V. 


CAu.Kv.K.SiA 

SAN  DIEGO 


t\ 


SHE  PASSED   ON,    LEATINQ   CCNNINGHAJI  DAZED. 

Frontispiece.    Page  46. 


The  Time,  The  Place 
And  The  Girl 


FROM  THE  PLAY  OF 
WILL   M.  HOUGH    AND   FRANK    R,  ADAMS 

BY 

JOHN   W.  HARDING 


ILLUSTRATIONS    BY 
GORDON    GRANT 


G.  W.  DILLINGHAM  COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS  NEW  YORK 


Copyright,  1908,  by 
G.  W.  DII<I<INGHAM  COMPANY 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


PAGE 


She  passed  on,  leaving  Cunningham  dazed.     Frontispiece  46 

' '  Anyone  can  see  that  your  brother  is  funny "    .     .     »  23 

"Holy  smoke!     W-who  are  you? " 70 

*'  A  guy  with  a  chest  on  him  like  a  snowplovv  has  been 

handin'  me  the  drink  cure  again  " q6 

"Four  dollars!" m 

Johnny   saw    them    coming,    and    the    iron    twisted    in 

his  wound ...  14*^ 


THE  TIME,  THE  PLACE 
AND  THE  GIRL 

CHAPTER  I 

Seated  on  the  porch  of  the  Tellalapec 
Hotel,  named  after  the  isolated  health  resort 
in  the  Blue  Ridge  Mountains  of  Virginia 
which  the  enterprise  of  its  proprietor  ren- 
dered not  only  possible,  but  attractive,  Tom 
Cunningham  interrogated  his  companion 
anxiously. 

"Tell  me,  on  the  square,  Johnny,  was  I 
soused  very  badly  in  Washington  last  night?" 

"Was  you  soused?  Was  you  not  soused! 
A  beautiful  rash  it  was,  take  it  from  me.  But 
don't  you  remember  anything?" 

3 


4  'THE  TIME,  THE  PLACE 

AND  THE  GIRL 

"Not  very  distinctly.  My  head's  still 
thumping  so  it  makes  me  dizzy.  Didn't  I 
meet  you  at  the  railroad  bar?" 

"Yes,  I  had  just  blown  in  from  New  York. 
That  was  before  you  bought  the  dog." 

Cunningham  groaned. 

"Did  I  buy  a  dog?" 

"You  certainly  did,  and  engaged  apart- 
ments for  him  at  that  swell  hotel  near  the 
White  House.  They're  keepin'  him  there 
for  you  by  your  orders." 

"That  settles  it.  The  straight  and  narrow 
path  and  the  chalk  line  from  now  on.  I'm 
beginning  to  remember.  Wasn't  there  a  row 
of  some  sort?" 

"Was  there?  Oh,  Estelle!  A  bute  of  a 
time.     You  licked  your  man,  though." 

"Did  I  hit  somebody?" 


'THE  TIME,  THE  PLACE  5 

AND  THE  GIRL 

"With  a  wine  bottle." 

"Did  I  hurt  him?  Was  he  out  of  his 
head?" 

"I  don't  know,  but  I  bet  he  wished  he  was 
out  of  his  head  when  you  hit  it.  Everything 
was  fine  and  dandy  except  that  the  poHce 
had  to  butt  in.  Then  we  blows  with  about 
forty  cops  on  our  trail.  You  had  told  me 
that  you  was  headed  for  this  place  to  commit 
matrimony,  so  I  brought  you  out  of  the  fry- 
in'  pan  into  the  fire." 

"Johnny,  it  was  awfully  good  of  you.  It 
isn't  the  first  time  you've  acted  the  Samaritan 
for  me.  I  had  sworn  off  and  reformed  and 
should  have  been  all  right  if  I  hadn't  met 
one  of  my  old  college  friends.  What  became 
of  him?  How  did  it  all  happen?  I  think 
I  feel  strong  enough  to  bear  it.    Tell  me  just 


6  y^^  TIME,  THE  PLACE 

AND  THE  GIBL 

how  dirty  my  face  was,  and  rub  it  in  good 
and  hard." 

"Well,  after  I  left  you  at  the  depot  I  came 
across  you  again  at  Glad  Hand  Mike's  swell 
gamblin'  emporium.  You  had  a  roll  so  big 
you'd  have  to  get  a  ladder  to  look  over  it, 
and  you  was  buyin'  wine  for  a  fairy  with  one 
of  those  'before  taking'  faces.  She  had  a 
shape  like  a  drink  of  water  and  was  crowded 
into  a  white  satin  shroud  with  beads  on  it, 
but  you  wasn't  noticin'  details.  I  saw  that 
you  was  in  for  all  night  with  the  rattlers,  so 
I  looked  on  to  see  that  nobody  tried  to  sell 
you  the  City  Hall  while  you  was  feelin'  so 
rich.  You  mixed  in  on  a  poker  game  finally. 
The  ante  was  two  bits  and  the  roof  was  the 
limit.  They  cleaned  me  in  about  forty-five 
minutes,  but  I  wasn't  exactly  dirty  when  I 


\ 
\ 


'THE  TIME,  TEE  PLACE  % 

'  AND  THE  GIRL 


blew  in.  Thursday  always  was  my  Jonah 
day.  By  this  time  you  was  buyin'  nothin' 
but  grape,  and  when  you  couldn't  drink  any 
more  you  was  rubbin'  it  in  your  hair.  You 
was  keepin'  one  eye  shut  so  as  not  to  count 
your  money  double.  You  had  it  up  your 
nose,  and  most  anything  would  have  set  you 
off.  Not  having  any  more  money  I  hadn't 
a  thing  to  do  but  watch  you.  You  was  losin' 
every  bet  and  I  began  to  wonder  if  there 
wasn't  somethin'  phoney  doin'.  I  don't  mind 
seein'  a  lot  o'  money  change  hands,  but  I 
like  to  see  every  man  get  a  square  deal.  I 
sized  up  the  bunch.  Across  from  you  was 
a  nice-lookin'  young  fellow  that  I  knew 
wasn't  a  shark.  Anyhow,  he  was  too  near 
spififlicated  to  cheat — same  as  you.  The 
other  two  guys  didn't  look   so  good,   so  I 


8  nTHE  TIME,  TEE  PLACE 

AND  TEE  GIBL 

keeps  my  lamps  trimmed.  It  was  comin' 
too  easy  for  'em,  so  they  got  reckless.  Af- 
ter the  deal  I  see  one  of  them  nod  to  the 
other,  and  on  the  discard  I  see  his  hand  drop 
below  the  table.  I  jumps  up  quick  and  grabs 
his  arm  and  yanks  it  out.  Up  comes  his  hand 
holdin'  about  seven  cards — mostly  aces — that 
he'd  pulled  from  a  hold-out  under  the  table. 
I  says.  That's  the  way  they're  gettin'  your 
money,  Tom.  The  game  ain't  square.'  You 
reaches  over  and  pinches  all  the  coin  in  sight, 
not  knowin'  just  what  you  was  doin'.  The 
3'-oung  guy  opposite  gets  riled  and  says 
you're  a  shine  sport,  and  sayin'  he  can  lick 
you  or  jmy  other  man  in  Washington,  he 
wades  in  to  do  it.  Just  as  somebody  douses 
the  light  you  hits  him  over  the  head  with  a 
bottle  and  he  drops  like  a  shot.     Then  an 


'THE  TIME,  TEE  PLACE  9 

AND  TEE  GIBL 

awful  bag  of  cats  is  stirred  up  and  we  mixes 
it  up  general  all  over  the  place,  everybody 
takin'  a  hand.  You  can  guess  the  answer — 
us  sittin'  in  the  middle  of  the  street  listenin' 
to  an  owl  car  comin'  up  the  pike  about  half 
a  mile  away.  I  dunno  how  we  got  there,  but 
maybe  we  fell  out  of  a  window.  I  didn't 
know  how  bad  that  guy  was  hurt  that  you 
dropped  with  the  bottle,  but  I  thought  we'd 
better  leave  Washington  for  a  while,  and  so 
it  was  us  on  the  caboose  for  Virginia.  The 
mountains  can't  come  too  high." 

"You're  a  brick,  Johnny,  for  seeing  me 
through  this  scrape." 

"Nothing  like  that." 

"You  are,  and  it's  the  last  I'll  ever  get  into. 
I'm  going  to  settle  down  and  be  a  respecta- 
ble citizen  for  evermore." 


10  Y^^  TIME,  THE  PLACE 

AND  THE  GIRL 

"Who's  goin'  to  be  the  other  half  of  this 
domestic  sketch?" 

Cunningham  regarded  his  companion  un- 
easily. 

"That's  something  I  don't  care  to  talk 
about,  Johnny,"  he  said,  "but  after  the  de- 
cent way  you've  treated  me,  I  suppose  I 
ought  to  tell  you.  If  it  hadn't  been  for  you, 
if  you  hadn't  brought  me  here  out  of  trouble, 
I  should  have  been  arrested,  the  papers  would 
have  been  full  of  it,  and  all  possibility  of  fu- 
ture happiness  would  have  been  ofif.  Her 
name  is  Margaret  Simpson  and  her  father  is 
that  old  caricature  we  met  on  the  train." 

"What,  that  hayseed  from  New  Hamp- 
shire?" 

"The  same." 


'THE  TIME,  TEE  PLACE  11 

AND  TEE  GIRL 

"Then  that  slob  beanstalk  with  him  was 
her  brother?" 

"Yes.  Margaret,  though,  is  a  beautiful 
girl  who  is  studying  at  Vassar  College.  We 
were  brought  up  together,  but  drifted  apart 
after  a  quarrel,  and  I  haven't  been  any  good 
to  myself  or  anybody  else  since.  I  decided 
that  it  was  about  time  to  quit  acting  the  '^oat 
and  make  my  peace  with  her,  so  I  went  up 
to  the  farm  last  week  expecting  to  find  her 
there  and  learned  that  she  was  taking  a  vaca- 
tion here  and  that  the  old  man  intended  to 
drop  in  on  her  and  surprise  her.  That's  why 
I'm  here,  on  a  little  surprise  party  of  my  own. 
And,  by  Jove,  Hicks,  you  shall  be  best  man 
at  the  wedding  as  a  reward  for  saving  me." 

"What,  stand  alongside  while  the  parson 


12  fEE  TIME,  TEE  PLACE 

ATW  TEE  GIBL 

up  in  the  lookout  hands  you  your  life  sen- 
tence?" 

"Yes— if  you  will." 

"Sure  I  will !  But  you  want  to  watch  me. 
When  I  see  the  bride  standin'  there  with 
about  eighteen  yards  of  mosquito  bar  stuff 
on  her  lid,  I'm  apt  to  make  some  rotten  crack 
that  will  queer  the  whole  act." 

"Oh,  I  guess  not.  You  can  behave  your- 
self nobly,  when  you  have  to.  I  wonder 
whether  we  can  get  a  ring  here?" 

"The  ring's  the  easiest  part.  What  we 
need  is  a  good  referee." 

Cunningham  laughed. 

"I  think  I'll  go  upstairs  and  get  myself 
straightened  out,"  he  said.  It's  a  good  job 
she  has  gone  ofif  on  a  day-long  trip.  Do  I 
look  as  if  I'd  been  in  a  fight  or  anything?" 


'Y^E  TIME,  THE  PLACE  13 

'  AND  THE  GIRL 


"No,  You're  as  fresh  as  this  mountain 
air." 

"Then  a  good  sleep  and  a  cold  bath  will 
fix  me.     I  feel  better  already." 

He  repaired  to  his  room  while  Johnny 
strolled  out  to  get  acquainted  with  the  health 
resort  to  which  chance  had  introduced  him. 


CHAPTER  II 

"Guess  I  ain't  lived  nigh  onto  fifty  year  to 
hev  them  smart  porters  robbin'  me.  Ten 
cents  to  carry  yer  grip  to  the  station! 
Humph !" 

Farmer  Jasper  Simpson,  with  ire  in  his  eye, 
glared  at  his  son  Bud. 

"Yessir,"  acquiesced  the  latter,  twisting  his 
huge  hands  and  shuffling  his  equally  large 
feet  awkwardly. 

Bud,  a  lank  youth  of  eighteen,  who  looked 
as  if  he  had  been  stretched  to  his  unusual  al- 
titude like  a  piece  of  second-hand  chewing- 
gum,  was  not  happy.  He  had  traveled  in  his 
holiday  clothes,  obnoxiously  redolent  of  the 
moth  balls  with  which  they  had  been  em- 
balmed, all  the  way  from  New  Hampshire. 

14 


TT^^'  TIME,  THE  PLACE  15 

AND  THE  GIRL 

The  clothes  had  been  purchased  three  years 
previously  and  worn  since  only  on  unusually 
important  occasions,  so  that  they  preserved 
a  distressing  newness.  This  of  itself  would 
have  placed  restraint  on  his  movements,  but 
the  fact  that  he  had  outgrown  the  garments 
rendered  them  still  more  uncomfortable.  He 
gazed  around  the  bedroom  which  was  more 
luxurious  than  the  family  best  parlor  open 
for  use  only  on  Sundays  and  when  such  visi- 
tors as  the  doctor  and  the  parson  called,  and 
wished  he  was  back  on  the  farm. 

"Ye  can't  take  yer  eye  off  yer  bag  without 
one  o'  them  fresh  porters  grabbin'  it,  and  it 
costs  ye  as  high  as  five  cents  to  get  it  back^" 
grumbled  his  parent.  'T  swan  to  Guinney 
everybody  here  is  trying  his  goll-dingest  to 
gouge  money  out  o'  poor  travelers.    Why,  I 


16  'THE  TIME,  THE  PLACE 

AND  THE  OIBL 


offered  one  o'  them  porters  a  nice  red  apple 
to  carry  them  grips  to  this  yere  hotel,  an' 
he  says,  'Silas,  fade  away  an'  git  a  good 
flight's  rest'  Yes,  he  did,  by  Harry!  And 
at  this  yere  hotel  they  wouldn't  dicker  fer  a 
couple  o'  cheap  rooms  near  the  roof.  'Noth- 
in'  left  under  five  dollars  a  day,'  the  clerk  said. 
Bud,  do  I  look  as  rich  as  I  am?" 

"No,  sir,"  replied  Bud  huskily  and  most 
truthfully. 

"If  yer  didn't  know  me,  would  it  occur  to 
ye  that  I  might  own  the  hull  of  Saskatchewan 
County?" 

"No,  sir." 

"Ain't  ye  proud  to  be  able  to  sponge  yer 
board  off  the  ole  man  in  a  swell  place  this 
this?" 

"Yessir." 


fHE  TIME,  TEE  PLACE  17 

**  AND  TEE  GIRL 

"Sence  ye  got  the  job  in  the  post-office  at 
three  a  week,  ye're  gittin'  too  stuck  up  to  say 
ye  like  nuthin'." 

*'Yessir." 

"Looks  all-fired  stylish  here  just  for  a  place 
to  climb  mountains  and  git  the  pure  air.  I 
suppose  them  Vassar  girls  all  spend  their  va- 
cations in  swell  places.  Margaret  said  she 
couldn't  run  up  home  because  she  had  to 
come  here  with  a  sick  friend.  She'll  git  a 
surprise  when  she  sees  us." 

"Yessir,"  assented  Bud. 

He  added  weakly:  "Paw,  kin  I  have  some 
money?" 

"Money!  ye  goll-switched  spendthrift! 
Where's  them  two  silver  dollars  I  gave  ye  fer 
last  Christmas?    Got  'em?" 

"No,  sir." 


18  'TEE  TIME,  THE  PLACE 

AND  TEE  GIRL 

"Everybody  sez  ye  won't  never  amount  to 
nothin'  anyway,  so  I  guess  I'd  better  send 
ye  to  college.  Now  look  yere.  I  came  down 
yere  to  climb  mountains  because  the  doctor 
sez  I  hev  to,  an'  I  won't  hev  much  time  to 
watch  ye.  Now  ye're  apt  to  get  all  het  up 
here  and  raise  the  very  old  Ned  when  I'm 
away.  I  suppose  some  o'  them  city  sports 
yere  spends  as  high  as  eighty  or  ninety  cents 
a  day,  mebbe  more.  Look  at  the  prices! 
Why  we  commenced  owin'  money  to  this 
hotel  before  we  got  off  the  train.  What  are 
ye  combin'  yer  hair  for?" 

"Wal,  you  don't  need  to  spruce  up  'cause 
everybody  knows  how  much  ye're  worth;  but 
it's  different  with  me.  Mebbe  there's  ladies 
here,  too,  paw." 

"Now  don't  let  me  catch  ye  keepin*  com- 


•r^E  TIME,  TEE  PLACE  19 

AND  THE  GIRL 

pany  with  one  o'  the  fast  sassiety  wimmin 
yere — an'  don't  read  them  blood  and  thun- 
der stories  in  the  back  of  the  Poultry  Maga- 
zine." 

"No,  sir." 

"Here's  a  new  quarter.  Two  weeks  from 
Monday  I'm  goin'  to  ask  ye  if  ye've  still  got 
it.  Let's  go  down  and  see  if  Margaret's  got 
back  yet." 

In  the  lobby  of  the  hotel  a  bevy  of  pretty 
and  fashionably  dressed  young  women  was 
filling  the  place  with  chatter  and  merry 
laughter.  Bud  ambling  by  came  to  a  sudden 
stop  and  grabbed  his  parent's  arm. 

"Paw,  there's  Maggie,"  he  said. 

The  next  moment  Farmer  Simpson  had 
pushed  among  the  young  women  and  was 


20  "TTHE  TIME,  TEE  PLACE 

AND  TEE  GIRL 

hugging  one  of  them  before  she  had  had  a 
chance  to  reahze  what  had  happened. 

"I  swan  if  it  ain't  been  a  year  since  I  seen 
ye,  gal,"  he  cried,  his  face  beaming  with  de- 
light. 

He  held  her  from  him  at  arm's  length 
in  order  that  he  might  gaze  at  her  the  better. 
Then  he  clasped  her  to  him  with  another 
bear-like  hug. 

"Pa !"  she  gasped,  struggling  from  his  em- 
brace, and  regarding  him  with  mingled 
amazement  and  consternation.  "You  forget 
there  are  strangers  here  and  that  I'm  not  a 
child  any  longer." 

"I  can't  forgit  it  as  long  as  ye  keep  send- 
in'  them  big  bills  to  me.  I'd  be  in  the  poor- 
house  now  if  I  didn't  own  all  Saskatchewan 
County,  an'  all" 


nTHE  TIME,  THE  PLACE  21 

*  AND  THE  QIBL 

"Whatever  brought  you  here?"  she  de- 
manded hastily,  heading  him  off,  a  flush  ris- 
ing to  her  pretty  face  as  she  was  conscious 
that  her  companions  were  tittering  and  con- 
templating her  parent  with  amused  surprise. 
This  awkward  looking  countryman  was  not 
precisely  the  idea  they  had  formed  of  smart 
Margaret  Simpson's  father  when  she  had 
spoken  of  her  parent  at  Vassar. 

"Didn't  expect  ter  see  me,  eh?"  he  an- 
swered. "The  doctor  said  I  needed  moun- 
tain climbin'  to  brace  me  up,  'cause  I've  been 
off  color  some,  and  I  thought  I'd  come  yere 
where  you  was,  fer  I  was  dyin'  fer  a  sight  of 
ye,  Maggie.  I  brought  yer  brother  along. 
Come  yere,  Bud !" 

Bud,  too !  This  was  the  climax  of  the  ca- 
tastrophe.   Mortification  struggled  with  love 


22  'THE  TIME,  TEE  PLACE 

*  AND  THE  GIRL 

for  her  father,  beaming  tenderly  upon  her. 
There  was  no  help  for  it  She  decided  that 
it  would  be  cowardly  to  show  shame  of  her 
own  father  and  brother,  so  she  submitted  to 
Bud's  bashful  greeting  and  returned  it  with 
a  hearty  kiss.  Then  turning  to  her  com- 
panions without  a  trace  of  embarrassment, 
she  said: 

"Girls,  let  me  present  my  father  and 
brother.  Pa,  these  young  ladies  came  as  my 
guests,  but  since  you  have  treated  me  to  this 
pleasant  surprise  we  will  all  be  your  guests." 

*T  ain't  so  all-fired  sure  I'm  pleased  to  meet 
'em,"  thought  the  farmer,  but  he  tried  to  look 
pleasant  as  he  repHed: 

"Um,  ah,  yes — I  suppose  so." 

"I  presume  you  have  been  here  before?" 


'■ANYONE  CAN  SEE  THAT  TOUR  BROTHER  IS  FUNNT. 


Page  23. 


'THE  TIME,  TEE  PLACE  23 

''  AND  THE  GIRL 

inquired  one  of  the  girls,  trying  to  engage  the 
bashful  Bud  in  conversation.'*' 

"N — no,  sir,"  stammered  that  youth. 

"Farming  must  be  so  interesting.  Tell  me, 
Mr,  Simpson,  is  there  much  money  in  raising 
poultry  ?" 

"It  cost  the  old  man  as  much  as  fifteen  or 
twenty  bones  to  raise  me,"  he  blurted. 

"Ada,"  said  Margaret,  "my  brother  passes 
as  a  humorist  in  Saskatchewan  County." 

"I  can  quite  believe  it,"  answered  the  girl. 
"Anyone  can  see  that  your  brother  is  funny." 

Margaret  joined  in  the  laugh  which  fol- 
lowed this  sally,  but  her  laughter  was  forced. 

"Say,  Maggie,"  exclaimed  her  father,  "we 
came  down  in  the  same  train  with  Tom  Cun- 
ningham, that  young  fellow  that  used  to  hang 
around  ye." 


24  'THE  TIME,  TEE  PLACE 

AND  THE  GIRL 


Dismay  even  more  profound  than  that 
which  the  unexpected  appearance  of  her 
father  had  caused,  filled  Margaret's  heart. 

"Tom  Cunningham  here !  I  don't  want  to 
meet  him — I  can't  meet  him,"  she  exclaimed. 

"That  sounds  interesting,"  commented  one 
of  the  girls. 

"Mr.  Cunningham  used  to  be  a — a  very- 
close  friend  of  mine  when  we  were  little/' 
Margaret  explained.  "But  we  quarreled  and 
I  haven't  seen  him  for  some  time.  He — he's 
a  trifle  dissipated.  He  isn't  our  kind  of  a 
man.  His  ideas  are  utterly  impossible.  All 
he  has  ever  done  to  attract  notice  has  been  to 
spend  his  father's  money  extravagantly." 

"Gee!  I  wisht  paw'd  give  me  a  chanst  to 
attract  notice  that  way,"  commented  Bud  in 
an  undertone  to  Ada.     "He  could  give  me 


fHE  TIME,  THE  PLACE  25 

*  AND  TEE  QIRL 

wads  of  it  and  never  miss  it.  Say,  Maggie/' 
he  went  on,  addressing  his  sister,  "I  heard 
last  week  that  Tom  was  married." 

Margaret  went  pale. 

"Married!" 

"Well,  I  heard  he  used  to  be.  He  an'  a  girl 
got  hitched  when  he  was  at  college.  Lemme 
see,  mebbe  it  was  Tom's  chum.  No,  it  was 
Tom.  Then  his  paw  wouldn't  give  him  no 
money,  so  he  quit  the  gal  and  got  divorced." 

"He  had  an  awful  queer  man  with  him  on 
the  train,"  said  her  father.  "Talked  kind  o' 
fresh,  but  he  couldn't  honswoggle  me.  I  was 
just  tellin'  Bud  how  he  mustn't  be  no  sas- 
siety  sport  down  here  and  spend  all  his  allow- 
ance, when  this  fresh  young  feller  leaned 
over  an'  sez,  'On  the  grave,  old  man,  ye're 
an  awful  scream.     Keep  it  up.' " 


26  TTFJg?  TIME,  THE  PLACE 

AND  THE  GIRL 


The  girls  exchanged  glances  and  tittered. 
Margaret  was  torn  with  anger  and  humilia- 
tion, and  the  passing  of  a  guide  with  a  num- 
ber of  the  hotel  guests  furnished  a  pretext 
for  a  diversion  which  she  seized  upon  with 
ready  presence  of  mind. 

"Oh,  let's  go  and  see  the  sights,"  she  cried 
gushingly. 

The  proposition  was  acted  upon  with  alac- 
rity by  the  whole  party,  and  they  trooped 
after  the  guide. 

"Paw,  there's  the  man  what  was  with  Tom 
Cunningham,  and  who  he  called  Johnny," 
said  Bud,  indicating  that  individual  who  was 
walking  in  the  group  of  tourists  already  with 
the  guide. 

"That's  him  sure  enough,"  replied  his  par- 
ent.   "Goll-ding  him." 


'TEE  TIME,  TEE  PLACE  27 

AND  TEE  GIRL 

The  cicerone  led  the  way  solemnly  up  the 
hill  path  to  a  marble  shaft. 

"The  next  point  of  interest,  ladies  and 
gents/'  he  said,  striking  a  pose  and  illustrat- 
ing his  harangue  with  profuse  gesture,  "is 
marked  by  this  monumental  structure,  the 
historic  scene  of  a  narrowly  averted  tragedy. 
Half  way  up  the  mountain-side,  surrounded 
by  the  manyfold  bee-uties  of  Noitcher  where 
to  this  day  the  hand  of  man  has  not  dese- 
crated the  sylvan  bee-uty  of  the  wilderness, 
stands  this  marble  shaft,  e-rected  by  a  great 
philanthropist,  marking  the  historic  spot 
where  Captain  John  Smith — famed  in  song 
and  story  as  the  founder  of  Jamestown — was 
miraculously  saved  from  a  horrible  death  by 
the  bee-utiful  Indian  maidfen  Pocahontas.  On 
one  of  his  tours  of  exploration,  as  you  prob- 


28  yF^  TIME,  THE  PLACE 

AND  THE  GIRL 

ably  know,  Captain  John  Smith  was  captured 
by  hostile  Redskins.  His  immediate  death 
and  execution  was  then  and  there  decided 
upon  without  delay  and  the  gre-usome  de- 
tails were  arranged.  Imagine,  sir  and  ma'am, 
the  drammer  which  was  enacted  on  this  very 
spot,  long  before  the  erie  of  civilization  All 
around  this  bee-utiful  sylvan  dell  where  this 
awful  massacree  was  about  to  be  perpetuated 
in  cold  blood,  on  a  innocent,  defenseless  and 
versatile  man,  was  savages.  Not  one  hun- 
dred, not  two  hundred,  not  three  hundred, 
not  five  hundred,  but  thousands  of  savages, 
clad  in  war  paint,  nude,  naked  and  unclothed. 
Here  stood  John  Smith,  his  spirit  undaunted 
to  the  last,  a  smile  of  derision  on  his  lips, 
facing  his  cruel  captors.  The  block  is  pree- 
pared,  the  executioner  stands  ready.    At  this 


'THE  TIME,  THE  PLACE  29 

AND  TEE  GIRL 

moment,  came  an  illustration  of  that  ready- 
wit  for  which  John  Smith  was  justly  famed 
throughout  the  colonies.  Pocahontas 
stepped  to  his  side  and  whispered,  'Keep  cool, 
John,'  whereupon  Captain  Smith  answered — • 
not  without  humor — 'How  can  I  keep  cool  if 
I  lose  my  head?'  Even  the  old  chief  was 
forced  to  smile  at  this  bum  mot,  but  the  de- 
cree was  inexorable.  By  a  ree-markable  co- 
incidence, when  the  axe  was  raised  and  the 
dread  signal  given,  with  a  low  cry  of  anguish, 
Pocahontas,  the  young,  beautiful  and  popular 
daughter  of  the  chief,  breaks  through  the 
ranks  of  warriors  and  throws  herself  on  the 
palpitating  bosom  of  the  fearless  John  Smith, 
crying,  'Father,  save  him!'  The  chief  waj 
so  moved  that  John  Smith's  life  was  spared 
and  his  marriage  to  Pocahontas  was  immedi- 


30  J'JI^  TIME,  THE  PLACE 

AND  THE  GIRL 

ately  celebrated,  and  a  joyous  time  was  had." 
Silence  followed  this  account  of  the  ro- 
mantic episode  which  various  rival  resorts 
also  claimed  as  their  own  stock-in-trade  with 
a  marble  shaft,  as  evidence  of  good  faith,  to 
mark  the  spot  of  its  occurrence.  Johnny  had 
listened  gloomily  to  the  guide's  recital. 

"Keep  it  up,  old  man,"  he  said.  "It's  as 
funny  as  a  piece  of  crepe.  Cop  it  out  for  the 
undertaker's  magazine.  On  the  grave,  take 
it  from  me,  you  ought  to  be  sellin'  life  insur- 
ance. You'd  be  an  awful  hit  as  one  of  them 
don't-have-to-die-to-win  boys." 

"What  do  you  mean,  sir?"  demanded  the 
guide  Indignantly. 

"Aw,  g'wan,"  returned  Johnny,  pushing 
him  aside  and  facing  the  company.  "Youse 
has  given  it  all  balled  up.    Ladies  and  gents 


nrSE  TIME,  THE  PLACE  31 

AND  THE  QIRL 

I  got  it  from  John  Smith  hisself.  Sure  thing, 
Want  to  hear  it?" 

The  guide  protested  vigorously,  but  the 
tourists  entering  into  the  spirit  of  the  joke 
cheered  him  down. 

"Well,  as  I  was  sayin',''  went  on  the  little 
man  solemnly,  "one  day  John  comes  hikin'  up 
the  mountain  to  put  his  lamps  on  this  monu- 
ment and  get  stood  up  at  the  hotel  here  for 
five  bones  a  day.  As  he  leaves  the  choo-choo 
and  comes  footin'  along,  John  begins  to  whis- 
tle 'Hiawatha' — that  was  a  new  one  in  those 
early  days.  As  soon  as  he  hits  this  place, 
about  eight  million  Indians  jumps  on  him  an' 
almost  hammers  the  hfe  out  o'  him.  Finally 
they  stands  him  up  groggy  and  sez,  'What's 
yer  name  ?'  He  answers,  'John  Smith.'  *Naw,' 
sez  the  Indians,  'don't  try  to  pull  '^othin'  like 


32  TTHiS;  TIME,  THE  PLACE 

AND  THE  GIRL 

that;  what's  yer  real  name?'  John  tells  them 
again  an'  they  was  just  goin'  to  beat  him  to 
a  whisper  when  some  Indian  sez,  'Hold  on, 
Where's  the  chief?'  'The  chief's  out  pinchin' 
a  gamblin'  joint/  sez  another  guy.  Finally 
the  chief  blows  in  and  sez,  Tut  her  there, 
John.  What  are  they  handin'  it  to  ye  fer?' 
Then  a  big  Indian,  Sittin'  Bull,  his  name  was, 
sez,  'Chief,  we  caught  him  whistlin'  it.'  Sez 
the  chief,  Then  let's  torture  him;  where's  the 
safety  razor — an'  while  yer  gettin'  it,  give 
him  "Navajo"  by  the  Indian  quartette.'  When 
they  was  all  ready  to  hand  it  to  him  with  the 
safety  razor,  Pocahontas  comes  rushin'  out 
an'  says,  'Father,  don't  cut  his  block  off.' 
John  takes  one  look  an'  as  soon  as  he  pipes 
her  face  he  sez,  'Go  on  wid  de  execution.' 
Then  the  chief  sez,  'Why  do  you  want  to  save 


'TSE  TIME,  TEE  PLACE  33 

*  AND  TEE  GIBL 

him?'  An'  Pocahontas  sez,  'Because  I  only 
need  to  save  nine  more  to  get  an  oil  stove,'  " 

While  his  hearers  cheered  and  laughed 
Johnny  passed  the  hat.  Then  he  turned  the 
collection  over  to  the  astonished  guide  and 
strolled  back  towards  the  hotel. 

As  he  descended  from  a  narrow  bush-lined 
path  onto  the  hotel  plateau  he  almost  fell 
over  a  barrel  organ  on  which  its  Italian  owner 
was  leaning  in  disconsolate  perplexity.  The 
man  started  violently  at  Johnny's  abrupt  ap- 
parition, but  immediately  his  lips  parted  in 
a  genial  smile,  disclosing  a  set  of  white  even 
teeth. 

"I  losta  da  monk,"  he  said.  "I  fought  you 
ees  him.    You  no  see  him?" 

"Lost  your  monkey?"  replied  Hiclcs.  "I 
wonder  if  I  won't  do  as  a  substitute?    T  Just 


34  yF^  TIME,  THE  PLACE 

AND  THE  GIBL 

made  a  monkey  out  of  myself.  This  swell 
dame  coming  along  looks  like  she'd  lost 
something,  too." 

"The  monk  he  ma  besta  frien' — ver/  booti- 
ful,"  said  the  musician. 

The  lady  alluded  to  by  Johnny,  a  hand- 
some, buxom  person,  came  towards  them 
excitedly. 

"My  own  orphan  Willie  is  lost,"  she  cried 
breathlessly.  "Have  you  seen  him?  I'm  his 
mother,  Mrs.  Talcot." 

"No,"  answered  Hicks.  "The  dago  was 
just  saying  he  was  lost." 

"He  run  away,  I  t'ink,"  said  the  Italian. 

"I  don't  believe  he'd  leave  his  ownest 
mother,"  she  declared. 

"Leave  his  mother!"  exclaimed  Johnny. 
"Great  Scott!  is  she  its  mother?" 


•rSE  TIME,  THE  PLACE  35 

AND  TEE  GIRL 

"Yes — I  know  I  don't  look  very  old,  but 
I'm  his  mother.  If  I  could  only  hold  him  in 
my  arms  again  and  kiss  his  tears  all  away." 

"What  did  he  look  like?" 

"He  had  blue  eyes  and  long  golden  hair." 

"He  hada  da  long  tail,"  put  in  the  organ 
grinder. 

"And  the  dearest  little  nose,"  added  Mrs. 
Talcot,  ignoring  the  interruption. 

"This  is  getting  exciting,"  commented 
Johnny.     "Where  did  you  see  him  last?" 

"Yas,  yas,  he  was  on  da  balcony,  hangin'  by 
hees  feet,"  affirmed  the  Italian. 

"Hanging  by  his  feet!    What,  my  Willie?" 

"No,  da  poor  leetla  monk.  He  broka  ma 
heart.  No  gotta  da  monk,  no  makka  da 
men." 


36  ya^^  TIME,  THE  PLACE 

AND  THE  GIRL 


Mrs.  Talcot,  utterly  bewildered,  gazed  at 
Johnny  for  the  explanation. 

"He's  lost  his  monkey,"  he  told  her. 
"Oh,  I  see.     Poor  fellow.     He  needs  the 
creature  in  his  business,  I  suppose,  being  art 
ambulant — er — musician." 

"Museecian,  si  signora,  museecian,"  said 
the  organ  grinder  greatly  flattered.  "Ah,  da 
museek  of  ma  contree — Verdi,  Rossini, 
Paganini." 

"Fancy  an  organ  grinder  knowing  about 
all  those  great  composers!" 

"In  ma  contree  I  play  in  da  opera — some- 
time— long  time  ago.  But  ma  voice — all 
gone." 

He  gave  a  deprecating  shrug  of  his  shoul- 
ders and  smiled  at  her. 
"The   opera?"   said   the   woman   eagerly. 


'TEE  TIME,  TEE  PLACE  37 

'*  AND  TEE  GIBL 


"That  is  where  I  long  to  be." 

"You  haf  been  on  da  stage?" 

"No,  my  lamented  husband  would  not  let 
me,  but  I  long  for  art.  Oh,  I  just  dote  on 
it!" 

"You  haf  da  beautee,  da  figure — ah  lady, 
you  mooch  lika  ma  leetla  sweetheart  Lucia. 
She  die  in  Eetaly.  Da  hair,  black  lika  da 
night;  da  eyes,  bright  lika  da  stars  on  a  night 
when  dere  ees  only  two;  da  cheeks  red  lika 
da  rose  dat  ees  die  away.  I  love  her.  But 
one  day  she  ees  sick.  She  senda  for  me.  She 
say  she  getta  well  eef  I  come.  So  I  come, 
leava  da  opera,  go  to  her  home  by  Napoli. 
She  dead.  Me  dead  too.  I  can  neva  sing 
any  more.  But  you — you  haf  breeng  me 
back  to  her  again." 

"How  interesting!   How  perfectly  roman- 


38  y^^  TIME,  THE  PLACE 

AND  THE  GIBL 

tic !  I,  too,  shall  sing  at  the  opera  some  day. 
I  have  sung  in  public,  though  not  on  the 
operatic  stage.  The  last  time  I  sang  the 
critics  simply  couldn't  say  enough  about  me. 
Let's  see.  Oh,  yes — they  said  I  had  a  voice 
like  a  lark  in  the  morning." 

"You  mean  Hke  the  morning  after  the 
lark,"  suggested  Johnny. 

"Well,  it  may  have  been  that,"  she  an- 
swered giddily. 

"  'Spose  you  expect  to  make  big  money  at 
it;  otherwise  you  wouldn't  work?  Wasn't 
your  husband  well  off  when  he  died?" 

"So  all  the  neighbors  said.  Of  course  I'll 
have  to  begin  at  the  bottom.  I'll  get  about 
fifty  dollars  to  start.  Later,  I  won't  sing  for 
less  than  five  hundred  a  week." 

"Gee !  you've  got  a  high  voice,  lady." 


'THE  TIME,  THE  PLACE  39 

•■  AND  TEE  GIRL 

"Do  you  like  'Siegfried?'  " 

"I  never  ate  any.  Whoa,  steady !  What's 
this?     Is  this  thing  one  of  'em?" 

He  indicated  an  infant  phenomenon  about 
six  feet  high,  with  bare  legs,  and  Buster 
Brown  suit  and  hair,  who  came  skipping 
along  the  path. 

The  widow  uttered  a  little  scream. 

"My  Willie !  Where  has  mama's  pet  been? 
Come  here  to  muvver." 

"You  mean  to  say  this  is  little  Willie?"  de- 
manded Johnny  staggered. 

"Yes,  my  long  lost  son." 

"Long  lost  son?  If  he'd  been  any  longer 
when  you  found  him  he'd  never  be  able  to 
get  into  the  house  again." 

"He's  going  to  look  just  like  his  father  too, 
when  he  grows  up." 


40  •THE  TIME,  TEE  PLACE 

AND  THE  GIBL 

"When  he  grows  up?  Was  his  father  a 
giraffe?" 

"Does  'um  want  muvver  to  rock  her  Httle 
boysey  to  sleep,"  she  said,  fondling  the  phe- 
nomenon. 

"Rock  him  to  sleep  with  rocks,"  grunted 
Johnny  disgustedly  to  himself. 

"Don't  'oo  want  to  go  seepy?" 

"N-n-n-n-no !"  replied  the  infant  peev- 
ishly. 

"What  does  'um  want,  then?" 

"I  w-w-want  a  d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d — " 

"Don't  weaken!"  admonished  Johnny. 

"I  w-w-w-w-want  a  d-d-d-d-d-d — doll." 

"Gee!"  exclaimed  Johnny  relieved,  "it's 
lucky  he  didn't  want  a  dollar  or  he'd  never 
have  said  it." 


fHE  TIME,  TEE  PLACE  41 

**  AND  TEE  GIBL 


The  mother  regarded  the  phenomenon 
proudly. 

"He  uses  big  words  for  a  boy  of  his  age," 
she  said. 

"They  ain't  so  big  when  he  gets  through 
cutting  'em  up,"  commented  Johnny.  "He 
speaks  broken  English." 

"He  has  a  slight  impediment  in  his 
speech." 

"Why  don't  you  send  him  to  one  of  them 
schools  for  stammerin'?" 

"I  don't  know  of  any  good  ones — do  you?" 

"I  have  a  friend  who  went  to  one  in  Michi- 
gan. Before  he  attended  the  school  he  was 
the  worst  stammerer  in  town.  He  stayed 
there  two  months  and  now  he  is  the  best 
stammerer." 

"I  should  be  afraid  to  send  him  away  to 


42  'TEE  TIME,  THE  PLACE 

AND  THE  GIRL 

school.  The  bigger  boys  would  bully  him  so. 
Then  I'd  be  afraid  he'd  get  to  smoking  horrid 
cigarettes  and  stunt  his  growth." 

"Ah,  but  lady,"  interjected  the  Italian, 
"you  musta  sen'  heem  to  da  school.  You 
free.  You  should  hava  somet'ing  done  tQ 
your  voice." 

"T-hat's  w-what  m-m-my  p-papa  said,"  ob- 
served Willie.  "H-h-he  s-s-said  m-mama's 
v-voice  n-needed  c-c-cleaning." 

"Tell  me,  Httle  man,"  inquired  Johnny, 
looking  up  at  him,  "what  do  you  expect  to  be 
when  you  grow  up?" 

"I — I'm  g-going  to  b-b-b-be  a  j-j-j-jo — 
jockey." 

Maybe  you'll  be  president  of  a  bank  if  you 
keep  on  growing." 

"D-d-don't    want   to   be    president    of   a 


'THE  TIME,  TEE  PLACE 
•*  AND  THE  GIRL 


43 


bank,"  protested  the  child  irritably.  "W-want 
to  be  a  j-j-jockey." 

"Oh,  very  well,"  assented  his  mother  in 
soothing  tones.    "Now  say  good  bye." 

"G-g-g-ood  b-b-bye/' 

"Good  bye  Httle  one,"  returned  Johnny. 
"G-g-good  b-b-bye." 

He  checked  himself  with  assumed  alarm 
as  the  infant  and  his  mother  turned  to  go. 

"Gee !"  he  said.  "Sand  the  track,  Hicksey, 
you're  slippin'.  They've  got  you  stutterin', 
too." 


CHAPTER  III 

Tom  Cunningham,  coming  around  a  cor- 
ner of  the  piazza  with  Johnny,  found  himself 
face  to  face  with  Miss  Simpson.  Both  were 
startled  at  the  sudden  rencontre.  Margaret 
affected  not  to  see  him,  but  he  raised  his  hat 
and  held  out  his  hand  as  he  said  with  hearty 
cordiality : 

"Why,  Margaret,  you  here?  Well,  this 
is  a  delightful  surprise.  Permit  me  to  intro- 
duce Mr.  John  Hicks." 

Margaret  reddened  and  bowed  coldly, 
ignoring  Cunningham's  outstretched  hand. 

Johnny  discreetly  dropped  back. 

"Margaret,"  said  Cunningham,  "you're 
not  angry  with  me  now?    It  was  all  my  fault. 

44 


•THE  TIME,  THE  PLACE  45 

AND  THE  GIRL 

I'm  sorry.  Please  forget  it.  You  know  me 
too  well  to  think  I  would  sulk  all  this  time." 

"That's  just  it,"  she  retorted.  "I  know 
you  too  well.  Why  should  you  sulk  when 
you  don't  care?    Why" 

"I  do  care — a  great  deal." 

She  laughed  nervously. 

"You  do  not  care/'  she  repeated.  "You 
have  only  one  aim  in  life,  and  that  is  to  amuse 
yourself.  You  have  no  ambition — no  aspira- 
tions to  do  anything  worthy  of  a  man.  In- 
stead of  taking  advantage  of  your  position 
to  achieve  something,  instead  of  putting  your 
talents  to  good  use,  you  are  going  the  pace 
and  associating  with  worthless  companions. 
You  thought  I  didn't  know,  but  you  see  I  do. 
I  have  done  with  you.  I  wouldn't  have  talked 
with  you  now  had  you  not  had  the  advantage 


46  yjJE  TIME,  THE  PLAGE 

AND  THE  GIRL 

of  knowing  me  all  these  years.  I  hope  I  can 
trust  you  not  to  take  advantage  of  this  friend- 
ship in  the  future." 

"Margaret,  you  are  hard  on  me,"  said  Cun- 
ningham gravely.  "I  may  stand  in  need  of 
forgiveness,  but  I  hardly  think  I  deserve  such 
bitter  reproach.  Are  you  sure  you  mean  all 
this?  It  isn't  because  you  are  angry  at  some- 
thing else,  just  at  this  moment?" 

"I  beg  you  will  not  try  to  treat  me  as  a 
child,"  she  returned  stiffly. 

"I  am  not  trying  to  do  that,  Margaret." 
"We  will  not  discuss  it,  if  you  please." 
She  passed  on  and  into  the  hotel,  leaving 
Cunningham  dazed.    Johnny  rejoined  him. 

"  'You  are  goln'  the  pace  and  associatin' 
with  worthless  companions' — meaning  me," 
chirped  Johnny.     "Say,   but   ain't  you  the 


'TSE  TIME,  THE  PLACE  47 

AND  THE  GIBL 


comic  lover !  Don't  move,  old  man,  you  ain't 
alive  when  she's  around;  you're  only  painted 
on  the  back  drop." 

"It's  funny,  I  suppose,"  commented  Cun- 
ningham bitterly. 

"It's  awfully  funny — keep  it  up.  I  guess 
you're  the  big  squeal  with  her  all  right,  all 
right.  When  she  sees  you  comin'  to  call  I 
guess  they  light  all  the  gas  in  the  house  and 
hang  out  the  flag." 

"Did  she  hit  me?  I  don't  remember  much 
about  it  after  she  got  started.  My  head's 
still  thumping." 

"Say,  there  was  nothing  to  it  after  she  be- 
gan to  wade  in  and  throw  you  around  a  little. 
Honest,  she  got  to  bettin'  with  herself 
whether  you'd  light  on  your  feet  every  time 
you  hit  the  mat.' 


» 


48  y£f^  TIME,  THE  PLACE 

AND  THE  QIBL 

"Did  I  come  back  at  her  at  all  before  she 
left?" 

"All  you  done  when  the  fireworks  quit  was 
stand  there  like  a  Harlem  goat  afraid  to  move 
your  feet  for  fear  she'd  notice  you  was  still 
alive." 

"Well,  it  certainly  looks  as  if  I  was  up 
against  it.  Of  course  I  knew  she  had  picked 
up  some  new-fangled  ideas  at  college,  but  I 
thought  her  father  would  talk  them  out  of 
her.  Honestly,  Johnny,  I  think  she  used  to 
like  me." 

"Don't  weaken,  old  man.  Your  work  was 
pretty  much  to  the  sand  paper,  but  what  you 
want  to  do  is  frame  up  something  so  you 
won't  land  with  your  face  in  the  gravel  next 
time.  All  you  need  is  a  few  lessons  in  how  to 
handle  them  boardin'  school  games.     Take 


'rSE  TIME,  THE  PLACE  49 

'■  AND  THE  QIBL 

it  from  me,  she's  got  phoney  ideas  from  train- 
in'  with  high  school  cadets.  What  she  needs 
is  rough  treatment.  Bark  at  her  and  make 
her  think  you'll  spank  her  if  she  don't  breath 
reg'lar,  and  you've  got  her  buffalooed.  When 
she  seen  you  was  doin'  the  gentleman  act  she 
sez  to  herself  'Here's  where  I  make  him  jump 
through  the  hoop  when  I  crack  the  whip.' 
And  from  then  on  you  was  a  zero  with  the 
rim  torn  off.  Take  it  from  me — when  you 
want  to  cop  out  a  pompadour  Hke  her,  don't 
give  her  none  of  this  first-class  language  like 
she  pulled  on  you;  don't  take  her  in  yer  arms 
and  whisper  Brownin'  poems  in  her  ear. 
That  may  be  the  boardin'  school  dream  of 
Paradise,  but  it  ain't  the  game  for  a  welter- 
weight that's  entitled  to  vote.  If  you  treat 
*em  the  way  you  read  about  in  dollar  an'  a 


50  Y"^^  TIME,  TEE  PLACE 

AND  TEE  GIRL 

half  novels,  pretty  soon  some  other  guy  will 
pull  the  handle  and  let  you  go  through  the 
chute.  You  got  to  make  her  a  little  scared 
of  you  and  she'll  be  nice  people.  Keep  her 
guessin'.  I've  heard  lots  of  married  guys  say^ 
that  if  you  want  a  steady  imitation  of  the 
Home,  Sweet  Home  game,  you've  got  to  lay 
for  the  missus  with  a  ball  bat  every  time  she 
lays  back  her  ears.  Call  her  down  even  if  you 
have  to  use  brass  knuckles,  and  she  won't  try 
no  funny  work.  Girls  may  go  dotty  over 
those  soft  cigarette  children  fer  a  little  while, 
but  the  real  one  that  can  lead  'em  without 
using  a  block  and  tackle  is  the  guy  that 
don't  let  'em  sew  any  buttons  on  him.  Any 
time  one  of  them  hand-laundry  fairies  tries 
to  get  new  with  me,  I  says,  *Sister,  I'm  the 
big   squeal   that   does   all   the  loud   talkin'. 


'TEE  TIME,  THE  PLACE  51 

'  AND  THE  GIRL 

You're  the  fall  guy  in  the  hands  of  friends, 
an'  if  you  stick  to  that  there  won't  be  no 
cracked  ice  in  the  chairs  when  you  call." 

"That  sounds  all  right  if  you  can  live  up  to 
it,  but  I  don't  see  how  I  can  avoid  quarreling 
if  the  girl  has  spirit." 

"The  game  is  not  to  scrap  with  the  shirt 
waist.  If  you've  got  her  buffalooed  all  right, 
you  don't  have  to.  If  you  will  fight,  pick  out 
her  old  man  and  I  guess  he'll  meet  you 
more'n  half  way.  I  was  callin'  on  a  girl  like 
that  once  and  she  was  sittin'  easy  like  in  my 
lap,  when  all  at  once  I  hears  a  phoney  noise. 
I  sez,  'Suppose  yer  old  man  comes  in  and 
catches  us  like  this?'  She  sez,  'Don't  worry. 
He  won't  come  in  here.  He's  waitin'  for 
you  outside  with  a  couple  of  croquet  mallets 
because  he  don't  want  to  spoil  the  parlor.' " 


62  'TEE  TIME,  THE  PLACE 

AND  THE  GIRL 


"Well,"  commented  Cunningham  with  a 
laugh,  "I  guess  I  won't  have  any  trouble  like 
that,  because  the  old  man  in  this  case  seems 
to  be  on  my  side.  Maybe  I'll  take  your  ad- 
vice though,  about  treating  her  as  if  I  were 
the  boss." 

"Take  it  from  me — it's  a  pipe  if  you  do  it 
right  and  cut  out  the  nursery  talk.  You'll 
win  comin'  in  sideways." 

"One  thing  is  settled,  though.  No  matter 
whether  I  win  her  or  not,  no  more  of  the 
fizzy  water  for  mine.  I  want  to  make  her 
think  I'm  a  man — I  know  what  her  opinion 
is  now.  I've  never  had  any  real  reason  to  be 
one  before,  but  here's  where  I  start." 

"Gee !  here  comes  one  of  the  fellows  who 
was  chummy  with  you  last  night  at  Glad 


Y'HE  TIME,  TEE  PLACE  53 

AND  THE  GIRL 

Hand  Mike's,  that  rusty  dipper  they  call 
Laurie.  Say,  on  the  grave,  that  guy  must  be 
hollow  inside.  His  batting  percentage  leads 
the  league  by  about  eight  nights  a  week.  He 
discovered  alcohol  was  food  long  before  the 
scientists  got  on  to  it." 

"Why,  that's  Laurie  Farnum — he's  the  col- 
lege chum  I  was  talking  about." 

A  tall  good  looking  individual,  but  thin 
and  shaky,  came  out  of  the  hotel.  He  walked 
with  a  slight  stoop.  His  eyes  were  sunken 
and  restless  and  victim  of  dissipation  was 
stamped  on  every  line  of  his  countenance. 
He  manifested  languid  surprise  at  sight  of 
Cunningham. 

"Hullo,"  he  drawled,  "you  a  sufferer,  too? 
Suppose  you  headed  for  here  to  get  boiled  out 


54  y^JS;  TIME,  THE  PLACE 

AND  THE  GIRt 


after  last  night  ?  This  is  the  sanitarium  I  told 
you  I  was  bound  for.  A  friend  of  mine, 
who  is  a  physician,  recommended  it  to  me." 

"I  didn't  know  there  was  a  sanitarium  here- 
abouts." 

"Oh,  yes,  the  sanitarium's  attached  to  the 
hotel,  or  is  supposed  to  be.  Say,  tell  me 
what  happened  last  night  at  Glad  Hand 
Mike's.  What  did  I  do?  I  remember  there 
was  a  fight  with  somebody.  It's  in  the  papers 
this  morning.  A  fellow  got  all  beaten  up.  His 
uncle  is  District  Attorney  or  somethins:  and 
the  police  are  out  on  the  trail  of  somebody 
that  was  in  the  scrap." 

"Don't  think  it'd  be  healthy  up  here  very 
long,"  put  in  Johnny. 

Cunningham  winced. 


'T'SE  TIME,  TEE  PLACE  55 

AND  THE  GIRL 

"Oh,  Farnum,  this  is  Mr.  Hicks,"  he  said, 
introducing  the  latter. 

"I  remember,  vaguely,  seeing  you  at 
Mike's  last  night,"  said  Farnum.  "Tell  me 
what  I  did.    Was  I  in  the  fight?" 

"The  last  thing  I  noticed  was  when  you  did 
a  Steve  Brodie  out  of  your  chair,  and  got 
dreamy  in  a  box  of  sawdust,"  Johnny  told 
him. 

"Glad  I'm  not  the  man  that  licked  the 
nephew  of  the  District  Attorney,  anyhow. 
He'll  get  sent  up  for  a  month,  sure.  By  the 
way,  Tom,  your  friend  Margaret  Simpson 
is  here.  I'd  never  met  her  before  but  I've 
lost  my  heart  already.     Have  you  seen  her?" 

"Yes;  I  came  down  here  to  ask  her  to 
marry  me." 

Farnum  regarded  him  with  surprise. 


56  yFi7  TIME,  TEE  PLAGE 

AND  THE  QIBL 

"Marry  her!  Great  Scott!  is  it  as  serious 
as  that?  Well,  I  might  have  known  I 
wouldn't  be  the  only  one." 

"You  don't  mean  to  say  that  you've  fallen 
in  love  with  Margaret  Simpson?" 

"I  do  as  nearly  as  I  could  come  to  lovin_g 
anybody.  Seriously,  old  man,  she's  got  me 
going  already.  I've  decided  I  can't  live  with- 
out her." 

"Neither  can  I." 

"Why  not?  You've  got  plenty  of  money. 
The  reason  I  can't  live  without  her  is  that  I'm 
flat  broke  and  her  old  man's  got  millions." 

A  flush  of  indignation  reddened  Cunning- 
ham's face,  but  he  said  very  quietly: 

"Laurie,  I  think  too  much  of  her  to  talk 
the  way  you  do,  and  if  you  were  anybody 
else  but  Laurie  Farnum  I'd  resent  it.     But  I 


TPHi7  TIME,  TEE  PLACE  57 

AND  THE  GIRL 

know  you  couldn't  be  serious  about  anything. 
You'll  always  be  the  same  flippant,  dreaming 
sort  of  cuss,  making  love  because  you  haven't 
anything  else  to  do,  and  playing  the  roman- 
tic, reckless  devil  that  all  the  ladies  pity  be- 
cause none  but  women  can  understand  you." 

"Then  we  aren't  pals  any  more,  but  rivals 
for  the  same  girl,  is  that  it?  All  right,  but 
recollect,  we  split  only  in  the  case  of  the  girl." 

He  held  out  his  hand  and  Cunningham 
smilingly  took  it. 

Johnny  stepped  between  them. 

"Take  your  corners,"  he  exclaimed.  "The 
rules  calls  fer  no  hittin'  in  the  breakaways, 
an'  the  guy  that  lands  the  lucky  punch  brings 
home  the  money." 

"You  mean  the  lady,"  laughed  Cunning- 
ham. 


58            'THE  TIME,  THE  PLACE 
AND  THE  GIRL 

"Same  thing,"  exclaimed  Farnum. 

Cunningham  became  interested  in  some- 
thing else. 

"Who  are  those  girls  over  there  ?  What  a 
fascinating  bunch,"  he  said. 

"They  are  college  friends  of  Margaret 
Simpson's,  I  was  told,"  replied  Farnum. 

"Isn't  that  tall  one  a  stunner !"  commented 
Johnny,  indicating  the  girl  Miss  Simpson  had 
addressed  as  Ada.  "See  me  show  you  how 
to  break  fairies  to  harness  without  usin'  noth- 
in'  but  kindness." 

"Remember  the  advice  you  gave  me  on 
handHng  girls — 'Call  her  down  even  if  you 
have  to  swing  on  her,  and  she  won't  try  no 
funny  business,'  laughed  Cunningham.  "I 
want  to  see  how  it  works  with  you." 

"You  guys  watch  me  get  away  with  it. 


'rSE  TIME,  TEE  PLACE  59 

AND  THE  GIBL 

First,  I  pulls  an  old  story  on  'em  that  always 
gets  an  awful  scream.  They  can't  help  but 
holler.  First  they  gets  curious,  then  comes 
closer,  and  after  I  pull  the  scream  I'll  have 
'em  all  eatin'  out  of  my  hand.  I  guess  that's 
a  swell  bunch  of  rags.  I  suppose  all  their 
fathers  are  black  with  money." 

He  strolled  over  to  Margaret's  friends  who 
had  formed  a  rocking-chair  brigade  under  a 
couple  of  huge  maple  trees. 

"I  say,  girls,"  he  said  airily.  "Would  you 
like  to  sit  in  if  grandfather  bought  a  few 
bottles  of  funny  juice?" 

They  stopped  talking  and  contemplated 
him  with  a  cold  stare  of  surprise. 

"Let's  all  play  bean  tag,"  he  invited,  with 
an  amiable  grin. 

No  response  was  vouchsafed  and  four  pair.s 


60  'TEE  TIME,  TEE:  PLAGE 

AND  TEE  GIRL 

of  eyes  became  interested  in  distant  features 
of  the  landscape. 

"Guess  they  didn't  hear  me.  Maybe  the 
wires  are  down,"  he  thought.  "I  hate  to  do 
it,  but  I  got  to  pull  that  funny  story.  If  they 
laugh  they're  as  good  as  clipped,  filed  and 
pasted  in  my  scrap-book."  Aloud  he  said, 
with  his  most  engaging  manner: 

"I  heard  a  funny  story  the  other  day  from 
a  drummer  traveling  out  of  Kansas  City.  It 
was  about  a  school  teacher  that  was  teaching 
a  class  in  addition.  There  was  a  lot  of  tougH 
kids  in  the  class  and  she  had  'em  up  in  a  line 
on  the  fan  asking  'em  a  lot  of  fool  questions 
about,  'If  John  has  eight  marbles  and  James 
ten,  how  many  have  they  both  got  ?'  One  of 
the  bunch,  Tommy,  couldn't  get  it  through 
his  coco,  so  she  gave  him  something  simple. 


J^HE  TIME,  THE  PLACE  61 

AND  THE  GIBL 

She  said,  'Suppose  there  are  four  eggs  here. 
Now  is  there  anybody  in  the  class  who  can 
tell  me  how  many  there  will  be  if  I  lay  three 
more  on  the  table?'  Tommy  couldn't  an- 
swer. Finally  the  next  kid  in  line  nudged  him 
and  whispered,  *Go  on  Tommy,  take  her  up. 
I  don't  believe  she  can  do  it.'  " 

Not  even  the  recognition  of  a  smile  was 
vouchsafed,  and  the  girls  resumed  conversa- 
tion among  themselves. 

"Isn't  it  strange,"  observed  Ada,  "how  still 
the  air  is  up  here  in  the  mountains?  You 
w^ouldn't  know  there  was  a  human  being  with- 
in miles." 

Johnny,  looking  sheepish,  walked  ofif  in 
the  direction  opposite  to  the  piazza  where 
Cunningham  and  Farnum  were  watching  him 
without  appearing  to  do  so. 


62  'THE  TIME,  THE  PLACE 

AND  THE  GIBL 

"Gee!"  he  soliloquized,  "I  landed  with  my 
face  in  the  gravel.  Not  a  wrinkle.  Maybe 
they'll  feel  sorry  when  they  see  me  here  form- 
in'  tableaux  by  myself.  That  crowd  makes 
me  feel  like  ten  cents  worth  of  radium  on  a 
coal  scales.  I  was  scratched  before  I  got  out 
of  the  barn.  The  way  they  looked  at  me 
would  fade  flowers.  I  ain't  stuck  on  college 
girls,  anyhow.  Guess  I'll  goo  goo  at  that 
pretty  nurse  who  smiled  at  me  this  after- 
noon." 


CHAPTER  IV 

Tellalapec  is  justly  famous  for  its  natural 
attractions,  but  it  is  safe  to  say  that  none  of 
its  charms  renders  it  more  popular  than  do — 
or  rather  did — those  of  Mollie  Kelly — that  is 
to  say,  with  the  men.  Mollie  was  head  nurse 
of  the  sanitarium  attached  to  the  hotel.  She 
was  a  blonde  with  cheeks  like  a  blush  rose 
wet  with  dew,  and  eyes  of  blue  that  ever 
scintillated  with  good  humor. 

Farmer  Jasper  Simpson,  drawn  by  curios- 
ity to  the  sanitarium  building  which  was 
some  distance  from  the  hotel,  paused  at  the 
door  to  take  a  pull  at  a  flask  he  had  extracted 
from  a  rear  pocket,  and  was  surprised  in  the 
act  by  Mollie. 

63 


64  'THE  TIME,  THE  PLACE 

AND  TEE  QIBL 

"What's  that  you're  taking?"  she  de- 
manded. 

"That  there,"  explained  Jasper,  "is  the 
finest  hoss  linniment  in  the  country.  The 
veterinary  gave  it  to  me  for  our  gray  mare, 
but  she  died  before  it  was  all  used  up,  and  I 
brought  it  along  so  as  not  to  waste  it.  It's 
the  greatest  cure  for  spavin  I  ever  used." 

The  merry  laugh  that  greeted  this  brought 
a  pleased  grin  to  the  farmer's  face. 

"Well,  is  there  anything  I  can  do  for  you  ?" 
she  inquired.  "I  suppose  you  blew  in  on  the 
last  train?" 

"Yep,  I  blew  in  as  much  as  two  dollars  an' 
a  quarter.  Say,  do  they  take  in  boarders 
here,  too?" 

"Everybody  gets  taken  in  here.  It'll  cost 
you  from  five  dollars  a  day  up — extra." 


'THE  TIME,  THE  PLACE  65 

AND  THE  GIRL 


'That's  too  dum'd  high." 

"It  has  to  come  high.  Remember  this  is 
a  tall  mountain." 

"Say,  are  ye  takin'  care  of  all  them  men?" 

"Yep.    I've  got  lots  of  patients." 

"You  need  it.  Could  you  take  care  of 
me?" 

She  looked  him  over. 

"That  depends  on  what  kind  of  style  you're 
used  to  living  in,"  she  replied. 

"I  mean,  kin  you  take  care  o'  me  like  you 
are  o'  them  fellers?" 

"Sure,  Mike — in  a  minute.  What  do  you 
want  to  be  treated  for?" 

"Because  you're  the  nurse,"  he  said  slyly, 
winking  at  her  and  edging  closer. 

"I  mean,  what  disease  do  you  want  to  be 
treated  for?" 


66  yS^  TIME,  THE  PLACE 

AND  THE  GIBL 

"I  want  somethin'  for  my  heart." 

"The  doctors  will  give  you  ten  dollars  for  it 
after  you're  through  using  it." 

"But  I  ain't  goin'  to  git  through  with  it  fer 
a  long  time.  How  long  before  them  fellers 
will  git  well?" 

"Oh,  not  less  than  six  months.  I've  only 
had  one  patient  who  got  well  in  less  time  than 
that." 

"What  was  the  matter  with  him  ?" 

"He  was  bhnd." 

"By  Harry !  I  think  I'll  let  ye  gimme  some 
o'  that  treatment.  You're  the  finest  lookin' 
nurse  I  ever  see.  I'll  bet  ye  came  from  a 
good  family." 

"Came  from  a  good  family?  I  guess  yes. 
Why,  I  used  to  work  for  the  Vanderbilts.'* 


YHE  TIME,  THE  PLACE  67 

AND  THE  GIRL 

"I'll  swan  to  Guinney!  And  how  did  ye 
happen  to  become  a  nurse?" 

"Well,  I  always  wanted  to  take  care  of  a 
man — I  didn't  know  whether  to  marry  one 
or  become  a  professional  nurse.  But  I  tried 
marriage  first." 

"Ye  don't  say!    Ye've  bin  married?" 

"Yes,  that's  why  I  decided  to  become  a 
nurse." 

"And  ye'll  treat  me  fer  my  heart  if  I  let 
ye?" 

"I  dunno.  Looks  to  me  as  if  you  were 
more  in  need  of  treatment  for  lockjaw  of  the 
hands.  Better  let  me  take  your  temperature 
before  you  go." 

"Don't  bother.  The  hotel  clerk  will  take 
everything  I've  got,  anyhow." 

An  attendant  interrupted  them. 


68  'jrSE  TIME,  TEE  PLACE 

AND  THE  GIBL 

"You're  wanted  over  at  the  hotel,  Miss 
Mollie,"  he  announced.  "The  clerk  'phones 
that  there's  a  patient  there  in  need  of  your 
services." 

"All  right,"  she  answered,  and  with  a 
cheery  "So  long,"  to  the  farmer  hurried  from 
the  building. 

Meanwhile  Farnum  sat  in  a  chair  in  the 
hotel  lobby,  a  nervous  wreck  from  too  much 
drink  the  night  before.  An  attendant  stood 
beside  him. 

"For  heaven's  sake,  man,  don't  stand 
around  like  that!"  said  Farnum  irritably. 
"You  set  my  teeth  on  edge.  Do  something 
— ^look  pleasant — or,  better  still,  go  away." 

"Perhaps  I'd  better  bring  you  something 
to  eat?"  suggested  the  man.  "You  haven't 
had  a  mouthful  of  breakfast.    Do  you  think 


'T'^E  TIME,  TEE  PLACE  69 

'  AND  THE  GIBL 

you  could  keep  anything  on  your  stomach?" 

"Nothing  but  a  postage  stamp.  My  mouth 
tastes  as  if  a  Chinese  family  had  just  moved 
out.  Did  you  hear  anything?"  he  added, 
starting  violently. 

"No,  sir." 

"I  keep  hearing  somebody  calling  my 
name." 

His  face  twitched  all  over  and  he  gave  an- 
other violent  start, 

"The  head  nurse  will  be  here  in  a  few  min- 
utes," said  the  attendant  soothingly, 

"That  reminds  me,"  he  muttered.  "I  have 
a  letter  for  the  head  nurse  from  the  doctor. 
Might  as  well  know  what's  in  it." 

He  opened  it  and  read : 

To  the  head  nurse,  Tellalapec  Sanitarium. 

Please  give  bearer  the  most  strenuous 
drink"  cure  used  by  your  establishment.   This 


70  Y^^  TIME,  TEE  PLACE 

AND  THE  GIBL 

is  to  be  done  in  spite  of  all  objections  on  the 
part  of  the  patient,  whose  mind  is  tempora- 
rily deranged  by  drink,  but  who  usually  ap- 
pears to  be  a  perfectly  sober  and  temperate 
man. 

DR.  J.  H.  REYNOLDS. 

950  West  61  St  St.,  New  York. 

"The  drink  cure  in  spite  of  all  objections, 
eh?"  thought  Farnum.  "I  don't  want  drink 
cure  that  way.    Guess  I'll  keep  this  awhile.." 

He  replaced  the  letter  in  his  pocket,  and  as 
he  did  so  Mollie  Kelly  entered  the  hotel.  At 
sight  of  her  his  eyes  dilated  and  he  struggled 
up  from  the  chair,  but  collapsed  into  it  again. 

"Holy  smoke!"  he  ejaculated.  "W-who 
are  you  ?    W-what's  your  name  ?" 

"You  ought  to  know  who  I  am,"  replied 
Mollie,  whose  astonishment  had  been  equally 
great,  but  who  preserved  outward  calm. 

"Good  Lord — I  thought  I  had  'em.     I've 


r 


\ 


\fc-^^^^ 


'  HOLY   SMOKE  !      W — WHO  ARE  YOU  ?  " 


Page  TO. 


YHE  TIME,  TEE  PLACE  71 

AND  THE  GIRL 

heard   somebody   calling   my   name   all   the 
morning." 

"I  remember  those  little  spells  you  used  to 
have." 

The  shock  of  the  meeting  had  sobered  him 
considerably  and  brought  his  nerves  under 
more  control. 

"What  are  you  doing  in  that  make  up?" 
he  demanded. 

"I'm  a  nurse  here — earning  my  living." 

"You're  a  nurse,  are  you?  You've  sunk 
pretty  low,  too,  since  we  last  met." 

"You  forget  that  I  was  your  wife  then.  I 
think  I've  risen.  My  brother  was  right  when 
he  warned  me  against  marrying  you.  Jim- 
mie  is  always  right.  He's  the  only  real  friend 
I've  got." 


72  yff^  TIME,  THE  PLACE 

AND  THE  GIRL 


"Does  anybody  here  know  that  you  were 
my  wife  ?" 

"No.  I'm  not  particularly  proud  of  it.  I'm 
known  here  as  Miss  Mollie  Kelly." 

"You're  a  good  girl,  Mollie.  You  always 
were  all  right.    I  was  a  fool  when  I  left  you." 

"You  didn't  start  then.  What's  the  mat- 
ter? What  are  you  holding  your  head  for — 
does  it  ache?" 

"There's  all  kinds  of  buzzing  going  on  in' 
it.  If  I  put  my  fingers  in  my  ears  they'd  be 
cut  off." 

"Broke,  too,  I  suppose?" 

"If  money  talks  I'm  deaf  and  dumb.  I  got 
so  tired  of  living  last  week  that  I  thought  of 
jumping  in  the  river.  Would  you  have  been 
surprised  if  I  ha'd  done  that?" 


'T'b:e  time,  tee  place  73 

'*  and  tee  girl 

"I  would  be  surprised  if  you  ever  did  any- 
thing." 

"Mollie,  let's  let  bygones  be  bygones.  I 
never  loved  anybody  but  you,  and  now  when 
I  see  you  again  all  the  old  fire  leaps  into  my 
veins." 

"No,  no.  Let  go  the  flying  wings,  Laurie. 
I'm  onto  you  bigger'n  a  house.  Now  I've 
got  just  one  thing  to  say." 

"Just  one — aren't  you  feeling  well?" 

"You  are  a  nice  boy  all  right,  but  your 
work  is  coarse,  very  coarse.  You  don't 
mean  any  harm,  but  I  don't  want  you  around. 
We  don't  Mocha  and  Java  worth  a  cent." 

"Do  you  mean  that,  Mollie?" 

"Yes — ^and  it's  final.  I'll  send  another 
nurse  to  look  after  you,  and  the  sooner  you 


74  HTHE  TIME,  THE  PLACE 

AND  THE  GIRL 


can  get  away  from  here  the  better  I  shall 
like  it." 

She  went  out,  and  he  gazed  after  her 
thoughtfully. 

"Ain't  it  funny  when  a  fellow  hits  the  to- 
boggan how  everybody  gets  behind  to 
shove?"  he  sighed.  "Poor  Mollie — and  poor 
me !  I  was  to  blame.  I  have  been  a  fool  all 
my  life  and  suppose  I  shall  continue  to  be  one 
to  the  end.     Oh,  well " 

His  musing  was  interrupted  by  Johnny, 
who  strolled  over  to  him. 

"Gee!"  said  the  latter  "you're  popular 
with  the  petticoats.  Who  is  that  swell  looker 
with  the  striped  dress  and  white  cap  and 
apron  you  was  talkin'  to?" 

"She's  the  head  nurse,"  replied  Farnum, 
eyeing  him  with  deep  displeasure. 


Y^E  TIME,  TEE  PLACE  75 

AND  THE  GIRL 

"Say,  she's  all  to  the  sugar,  she  is.  Would 
yer  mind  introducin'  me  next  time  she  airy 
fairy's  this  way?" 

"No  need  to  wait.  I  have  a  letter  for  her 
here  I  forgot  to  deliver.  If  you  care  to  take 
it  over  to  the  sanitarium  it  will  serve  as  an 
excuse  to  make  her  acquaintance." 

"Hold  my  hat  while  I  wade  in,"  assented 
Johnny  eagerly.  "I  got  a  whole  phoneygraph 
record  case  full  of  soft-music  language 
framed  up  fer  her." 

He  took  the  letter  and  made  for  the  sani- 
tarium.    Mollie  received  him  there. 

"Say,  lady,  are  you  the  boss  ?"  he  inquired, 
feeling  bashful  for  the  first  time  in  his  life 
and  lowering  his  eyes  for  an  instant  under 
her  keen  laughing  glance. 


76  YEE  TIME,  TEE  PLAGE 

AND  THE  GIRL 

"No,  I'm  the  head  nurse,"  she  answered. 
"The  boss  is  the  house  physician." 

"The  house  physician?  What  does  he  do? 
Take  care  of  the  house?  Say,  I'm  interested 
in  medicine  myself.  My  father  invented  an 
insect  exterminator." 

"Yes?    Is  it  any  good?" 

"It  exterminated  me.  I'm  so  enthusiastic 
about  scientific  research  that  when  I  die  I'm 
going  to  leave  my  brain  to  some  scientist." 

"Oh,  you  stingy  thing!" 

"Stung!  Say,  you're  cut  out  for  vaude- 
ville. How  did  you  come  to  get  into  this 
work?" 

"I  had  nothing  to  do  at  home." 

"I  see.  The  daughter  of  the  idle  rich.  I 
suppose  you  belonged  to  one  of  the  earliest 
families?" 


'TS^  TIME,  TEE  PLACE  77 

*  AND  THE  GIRL 

"Sure — my  father  was  a  milkman.  Get- 
ting up  at  two  o'clock  in  the  morning  made 
us  the  earliest  family  on  our  block.  Then 
you  see  father  and  mother  had  a  quarrel." 

"What,  they  wouldn't  fight?" 

"In  a  minute.  First  there  was  language  all 
over  the  shop.  Then  mother  did  a  terrible 
thing — she  hit  him  with  a  meat  axe.  But 
father  did  a  more  terrible  thing  than  that." 

"Gee!     What  did  father  do?" 

"Father  went  to  Pittsburg.  That  sort  of 
broke  up  the  family.  We  were  all  at  outs  but 
my  brother  Jimmie  and  myself.  Jimmie's  in 
Washington  now." 

"I  just  came  from  Washington." 

"Maybe  you  know  him — Jimmie  Kelly?" 

"No,  I  don't  remember  him." 

"He's  the  best  brother  that  ever  made  a 


78            yfiTi?  TIME,  THE  PLACE 
AND  THE  GIRL 

sister  happy.  If  anything  happened  to  Jim- 
mie,  I  don't  know  what  would  become  of  me. 
Are  you  well  known  in  Washington  ?" 

"Well  known?    I  guess — I  have  to  go  out 
of  town  every  time  I  want  to  borrow  money." 
"What   are   you   doing  here?     You   look 
healthy." 

"I  just  came  up  to  take  the  air." 
"You'd  better  indulge  freely.    It's  the  only 
thing  you'll  get  for  nothing." 

"I  came  here  with  another  fellow,  Tom 
Cunningham,  that's  trying  to  marry  a  dame 
that's  staying  here.  Honest,  I  want  to  put 
you  wise,  little  lady.  Tom  is  the  best  guy 
that  ever  happened.  He's  a  little  rough 
sometimes  and  he  has  his  way  or  they  send 
for  the  wreck  wagon,  but  he's  a  man,  take  it 
from  me.    I  met  him  in  a  gambling  joint  and 


'THE  TIME,  THE  PLACE  79 

AND  THE  QIBL 

did  him  a  turn,  and  ever  since  he's  treated 
me  like  a  white  man.  Me  for  a  mat-  every 
time." 

"Ain't  it  the  truth?    And  what  are  you?" 

"I  guess  I'm  what  they  call  a  gambler.  I 
ain't  very  proud  of  it,  but  I  got  a  record  for 
bein'  square.  I  may  have  separated  two  or 
three  guys  from  their  money  but  they  always 
got  a  run  for  it." 

"Are  you  one  of  those  men  that  bet  on 
the  races  ?" 

"No,  nothing  like  that.  I  never  was  lucky 
at  the  tracks  but  once — that  was  when  I 
found  a  nickel  and  didn't  have  to  walk  home." 

"Did  you  ever  do  anything  but  gamble?" 

*'Yes.  One  season  I  was  a  professional 
catcher." 

"You   don't   say?     What   did   you   do— 


80  nr^^  TIME,  THE  PLACE 

AND  THE  GIBL 

drive  the  wagon  or  go  around  lassoing  the 
dogs?" 

"Oh,  Estelle!    I  guess  I  got  that." 

"Your  friend  Cunningham's  a  nice  looking 
chap.     Who's  the  girl  he's  going  to  marry?" 

"She's  Miss  Simpson,  daughter  of  Farmer 
Jasper — the  tight  wad  with  the  facial  foliage. 
I  met  him  on  the  train  coming  down.  He's 
so  tight  you  couldn't  loosen  him  with  a  pipe 
wrench.  He  crawled  inside  of  himself  and 
nailed  the  lid  on.  Is  he  here  to  spend  the 
season?" 

"I  guess  so.  He  hasn't  spent  anything  else 
yet." 

"I  should  hardly  think  a  wad  like  that 
would  come  to  a  swell  sanitarium.  What's 
he  got?" 


rrHE  TIME,  TEE  PLACE  81 

AND  THE  GIRL 

"We  haven't  found  out  yet,  but  I  think 
it's  about  a  million." 

"How  are  you  going  to  treat  him  for  it?" 

"He's  so  stingy  I  guess  we'll  have  to  give 
him  gas.  The  doctor  looked  him  over  this 
morning." 

"What  was  his  diagnosis?" 

"One  hundred  and  fifty  dollars." 

Johnny's  hand,  thrust  mechanically  into  his 
pocket,  came  in  contact  with  Farnum's  letter. 

"Oh,  gee!"  he  exclaimed.  "Here's  some- 
thing I  nearly  forgot." 

Mollie  took  it,  read  it,  and  looked  grave. 

"That's  too  bad,"  she  thought.  "He 
doesn't  look  like  it.  I  almost  hate  to  give 
him  the  cure,  he's  so  nice.  But  I  suppose  it 
will  have  to  be  done  if  Dr.  Reynolds  says  so." 

"Do  you  feel  any  fever  ?"  she  inquired. 


82  Y"^^  TIME,  TEE  PLACE 

AND  TEE  GIRL 

"Fever?    No !"  he  replied. 

"Well,  will  you  stay  here  till  I  come  back? 
I'm  going  to  bring  something  for  you." 

"I'd  do  anything  you  asked  me.  Honest, 
you've  made  an  awful  hit  with  me." 

He  gazed  after  her  admiringly. 

"She  makes  'em  all  look  like  a  summer  re- 
sort on  a  rainy  day,"  he  muttered.  "If  I  ever 
harness  up  a  bunch  of  money  and  go  out  to 
rent  a  flat,  she's  the  party  can  pick  out  the 
furniture  if  she  wants  to.  I  wonder  if  I'd 
ever  have  the  nerve  to  ask  her  to  marry  me? 
If  she  said  'Yes'  I  guess  I'd  think  her  judg- 
ment was  awful  rotten." 

His  agreeable  musing  was  cut  short  by  a 
couple  of  powerful  attendants  who  pounced 
upon  him  and  bore  him  off,  heedless  of  his 
wrathful  and  finally  despairing  protests. 


CHAPTER  V 

Laurie  Farnum  had  been  an  object  of  inter- 
est to  the  college  girls.  He  wore  an  habitual 
expression  of  melancholy  which  to  the  unso- 
phisticated maidens  passed  for  soulfulness, 
especially  as  its  effect  was  heightened  by  a 
languid  mien,  a  wan  smile,  and  a  blonde, 
drooping  moustache.  He  was  quite  aware  of 
the  impression  he  had  made — that  in  fact  he 
always  made  on  the  romantic  feminine  mind 
■ — and  set  about  laying  siege  to  Margaret's 
heart  with  considerable  skill  by  currying 
favor  with  her  father  and  brother.  The  lat- 
ter had  conceived  a  boundless  admiration  for 
him.  He  represented  for  the  country  boy 
the  beau  ideal   of  a  metropolitan  "sport." 

83 


84  nr^^  TIME,  THE  PLAGE 

AND  THE  GIRL 

Farnum  decided  that  Bud  would  serve  as  the 
best  medium  for  an  introduction. 

He  waylaid  that  youth  and  by  joining  him 
in  the  constitutional  which  everyone  took  on 
the  piazza  in  the  cool  of  the  evening  after 
dinner,  had  managed  to  get  acquainted  with 
the  girl.  Meanwhile  Cunningham  had  sedu- 
lously avoided  meeting  her  after  her  chilly 
reception  on  the  day  of  his  arrival.  Pride 
compelled  him  to  respect  her  expressed  wish 
to  be  let  alone,  though  obedience  to  it  cost 
him  a  heavy  heart  and  many  a  bitter  pang. 

On  the  evening  of  the  fourth  day  Farnum 
managed  to  encounter  Bud  and  greeted  him 
with  a  slap  on  the  shoulder,  to  the  tremen- 
dous gratification  of  the  youth,  who  was  flat- 
tered at  being  treated  as  a  man,  and  on  a 


'THE  TIME,  THE  PLACE  85 

AND  THE  GIRL 

footing  of  equality,  by  his  well-dressed,  easy 
mannered  senior. 

"Well,"  inquired  Farnum,  "are  you  com- 
fortably settled  here?" 

"Yep,"  responded  Bud,  "but  paw's  awful 
sore  about  the  price  he  has  to  pay  for  board." 

"Why,  I  told  him  to  say  he  was  a  friend  of 
mine  and  they'd  treat  him  right.  Didn't  he 
doit?" 

"Yep — he  said  he  was  a  friend  of  yours  all 
right." 

"Didn't  that  do  any  good?" 

"They  made  him  pay  in  advance." 

"Say,  Bud,  how  would  you  like  to  visit  me 
in  the  city  some  time?" 

"And  be  a  sport  Hke  you?  Gosh,  I'd  like 
it.  I  guess  it  would  cost  as  much  as  four 
dollars  to  do  it  and  dad  wouldn't  let  me  have 


86  Y^^  TIME,  THE  PLACE 

AND  THE  GIRL 

the  money.  I  tried  to  touch  him  for  a  hard 
boiled  hat  before  we  came  here,  but  it 
wouldn't  work." 

"I'll  pay  the  bill.  We'll  make  a  man  of  you 
yet." 

"You're  a  regular  devil,  ain't  you  ?  I'll  bet 
when  you  was  a  boy  like  me  you  played  mar- 
bles for  keeps." 

"What  is  your  ambition,  Bud?  What 
would  you  like  to  be?" 

"I'd  like  to  be  a  professional  base  ball 
player,  but  I  don't  know  how  to  get  in," 

"Professional  ball  player?  The  easiest  way 
to  get  to  be  that  is  to  go  to  college.  But 
whatever  you  do,  don't  be  a  shine  sport. 
Don't  be  one  of  these  alley-way  Johnnies. 
There  are  a  lot  of  fellows  in  the  cities  that 
mention  all  the  chorus  girls  in  town  by  their 


'TEE  TIME,  THE  PLACE  87 

'*  AND  THE  GIBL 

first  names  and  hang  around  the  stage  door 
in  everybody's  way,  just  to  talk  about  what 
rounders  they  are.  I've  been  both  kinds  of 
a  sport  and  you  can  take  it  from  me  that  the 
nickel-plated  one  don't  wear.  There's  just  as 
many  pin-heads  in  the  cities  as  there  are  in 
the  country." 

"What's  that?"  demanded  Johnny  who  had 
strolled  up.  "Excuse  me  fer  buttin'  in,  but 
did  Bud  say  he  was  a  sport?   Come  on." 

He  went  through  the  motion  of  strewing 
corn  in  the  youth's  path. 

"Quit  yer  joshin',"  retorted  Bud.  "You're 
awful  cute,  ain't  you?  I  want  you  to  under- 
stand that  I'm  the  best  croquet  player  in  our 
town.  Only  man  that  can  beat  me  is  Deacon 
Hornbeck,  and  he  cheats." 

"Ain't  he  the  little  bright  eyes!     He's  a 


88  TTfir^  TIME,  THE  PLACE 

AND  THE  GIRL 

reg'lar  athlete.  Look  at  them  muscles!  I 
guess  you  was  put  into  your  clothes  with  hy- 
draulic pressure,  wasn't  you?" 

"I'm  the  champion  milker  of  the  county." 
"That     so?      Ever    do    any    other    hard 
work  ?" 

"I  once  got  two  dollars  out  of  the  old  man." 
"Good  for  you.    You'll  do.    I'm  a  carpen- 
ter myself." 

"Yes?    Do  you  know  how  to  make  a  Vene- 
tian blind." 

"Sure — poke  yer  finger  in  his  eye." 
Margaret  came  along  the  piazza  with  the 
other    strollers.      She    was    alone.     Farnum 
promptly  seized  the  opportunity  and  raising 
his  hat  joined  her. 

"Your  brother  was  just  telling  me  aboui 
liis  prowess  in  his  profession,"  he  said. 


'THE  TIME,  THE  PlACE  89 

AND  THE  GIRL 

"Profession!  Oh!  One  would  hardly  call 
it  that,  would  one?"  she  rejoined  with  a 
smile.  "Would  you  consider  me  indiscreet 
if  I  asked  what  was  your  own?" 

"Not  at  all — certainly  not.  I  have  none.  I 
don't  have  to  work." 

"Don't  have  to  work?  Which  are  you,  a 
capitalist  or  a  college  man?" 

"Neither — my  father  is  a  philanthropist. 
But  you  are  a  school  girl.  You  impress  me 
as  being  much  more  mature — as  if  you  had 
higher  ideals  than  most  school  girls." 

It  was  a  bold  venture,  but  he  had  suspected 
the  weak  spot  in  her  nature,  and  her  manner, 
which  immediately  became  earnest,  showed 
that  he  had  found  it. 

"Perhaps  I  have,"  she  replied. 

"I  think  you  would  demand  more  of  the 


90  'TEE  TIME,  TEE  PLACE 

AND  TEE  GIRL 


man  who   married  you  than  other  girls   of 
your  age  would." 

"Possibly — but  other  girls  get  so  little. 
We  have  a  notion  all  our  own  that  if  the  po- 
sition occupied  by  woman  in  the  days  of 
chivalry  is  ever  to  be  regained,  it  must  be  be- 
cause the  woman  demands  it.  That  is  the 
ideal  all  us  Vassar  girls  believe  in." 
"Really?" 

"Yes.  Men  nowadays  are  so  sordid,  so  en- 
grossed in  the  practical  things  of  life,  that  the 
finer  side  of  their  nature  is  left  undeveloped." 
"I  quite  agree  with  you.  I  have  always 
looked  on  woman  as  a  divinity.  I  can't  say 
that  it  has  ever  benefited  me  much  as  yet.  I 
would  be  better  of¥  in  some  ways  if  I  had 
taken  a  more  practical  view  of  life." 
He  sighed. 


'TEE  TIME,  THE  PLACE  91 

^  AND  THE  GIRL 

*'Don't  say  that,"  she  remonstrated  gently. 
"There  is  something  finer  than  worldly 
glory.  I  have  a  Httle  problem — a  test  by 
which  I  try  to  judge  the  men  whom  I  meet. 
I  ask  myself,  'Suppose  he  and  a  woman  were 
wrecked  on  a  desert  island;  would  he  make 
her  share  his  hardships,  or  would  he  sacrifice 
everything  to  keep  her  in  her  place  as  a  god- 
dess?" 

"I  think  he  should  sacrifice  everything  to 
keep  her  in  her  place  as  a  goddess,"  he  af- 
firmed, enthusiastically. 

"I  believe  you  would,  and  I  honor  you  for 
it,"  the  girl  told  him.  "The  trouble  with  mod- 
ern men  is  that  they  sacrifice  the  ideal  to  the 
strictly  material.  The  eternal  excuse  is  that 
they  have  no  time  for  sentiment." 

"I,  too,  often  wonder  what  is  the  use  of  this 


92  T*^^  TIME,  THE  PLACE 

*■  AND  TEE  GIRL 

hurrying,  rushing,  tearing  through  life.  For 
myself  I  detest  it." 

"Aren't  you  different  from  most  Ameri- 
cans in  that  way?" 

"I  was  going  to  say  I  hope  so,  but  that 
might  be  in  rather  bad  taste.  Probably  most 
of  your  friends  are  of  the  kind  who  always 
'do  things'  and  are  always  in  a  hurry.  Tom 
Cunningham  for  instance." 

The  girl  flushed. 

"Please  do  not  refer  to  him  as  a  typical  ex- 
ample of  my  friends,"  she  said.  "Besides,  he 
doesn't  'do  things' — at  least  the  kind  of 
things  I  think  a  man  should  do." 

"Then  I  fear  I  am  hopelessly  below  your 
standard,"  he  commented,  throwing  an  artis- 
tic note  of  sadness  into  his  tone.  "I  never 
do  anything,  because  as  a  rule  I  don't  think 


nrSE  TIME,  THE  PLACE  93 

AND  TEE  GIBL 

that  the  things  most  men  do  are  really  worth 
while  after  all.  Perhaps  if  I  thought  differ- 
ently my  life  might  be  worth  something  to 
somebody." 

"Don't  say  that.  Really,  I'm  awfully  glad 
to  meet  someone  who  isn't  the  usual  rough, 
crude  business  man.  You  might  almost  be- 
long to  the  age  of — well,  I  was  going  to  say 
the  age  of  chivalry;  but  I  don't  know  any- 
thing about  your  attitude  towards  women." 

"Women?"  he  said  with  affected  bitter- 
ness. "Maybe  that's  where  my  weakness 
lies.  It's  a  weakness  that  few  men  sympa- 
thize with  nowadays,  and  so  I  have  to  kneel 
before  my  little  shrine  in  a  secluded  corner 
where  there  are  no  'business  men'  as  you  call 
them,  to  blow  out  the  candles.  Perhaps  if 
this  had  been  the  age  of  chivalry  when  all  men 


94  'THE  TIME,  TEE  PLACE 

AND  THE  OIEL 

thought  that  to  worship  woman  was  all  of 
life,  I  might  have  made  more  of  myself.  As 
it  is — well,  I'm  only  an  aimless  dreamer  with 
an  ideal  that  no  one  ever  sees." 

"No  one?  I  think  it  is  my  ideal  also, 
though  I  didn't  know  anyone  else  thought 
the  same — because — because,  I  had  never 
met  anyone  just  like  you." 

Cunningham  leaning  gloomily  and  un- 
noticed in  the  shadow  of  a  corner  of  the 
piazza,  saw  as  they  passed  a  lighted  window 
the  daring  glance  his  rival  directed  upon  her, 
and  saw  her  lower  her  eyes  with  confusion 
as  raising  hers  she  had  met  his  gaze. 

"Father's  a  typical  American,"  she  went 
on,  steering  the  conversation  away  from  the 
flirting  point.  "I've  come  to  hate  the  typical 
energetic  American   as  a  rule,  but  he   has 


T'HjE  TTME,  the  place  95 

AND  THE  OIRL 

such  admirable  qualities.  All  he  needed  in 
his  youth  was  education,  and  he  might  have 
been  a  master  among  men.  Sometimes  I 
think  that  with  this  education  he  would  have 
developed  into  a  man  of  my  mind — of  our 
kind!  There  he  is  beckoning  to  me.  You 
will  excuse  me,  won't  you?" 

"Oh,  certainly.  May  I  see  you  again  and 
resume  this  charmingly  intellectual  conversa- 
tion?" 

"Yes,  if  you'll  promise  not  to  think  I  am 
as  serious  as  I  talk.  I  shall  be  here  as  long 
as  father  can  pay  the  bills  without  having 
heart  failure." 

"Then  au  revoir." 

"Au  revoir." 

Farnum  continued  his  stroll  exulting  at 
the  astonishing  progress  he  had  made. 


96  nrHE  TIME,  TEE  PLACE 

AND  THE  GIRL 


"I've  as  good  as  got  her  cinched,"  he 
chuckled.  "My  prospective  father-in-law  a 
man  of  our  kind!  Oh,  Lord!  She  forgets 
I've  seen  him." 

Cunningham  in  the  corner,  eating  his 
heart  out,  was  discovered  by  Johnny,  who 
had  been  hunting  everywhere  for  him.  The 
little  man  was  red  and  perspiring  and  his  coat 
was  torn. 

"What's  the  matter — what's  hit  you?"  de- 
manded his  patron. 

"I've  just  been  elected  ticket-taker  on  the 
water  wagon.  A  guy  with  a  chest  on  him 
like  a  snowplow  has  been  handin'  me  the 
drink  cure  again — why,  search  me  if  I  know, 
but  they  grab  me  every  time  I  lose  myself 
near  the  sanitarium.  I  can't  figure  out  the 
dope  yet,  but  they  shot  me  through  so  many 


"  A   GUY    WITH    A    CHEST   ON   HIM    LIKE    A    SNOW  PLOW    HAS    BEEN   HANDIN' 
JIE  THE    DRINK  CURE  AGAIN." 

Page  %. 


Y^E  TIME,  TEE  PLACE  97 

AND  TEE  GIBL 

sulphur  baths  I  feel  like  a  match.  I  ain't 
been  huntin'  yer  to  tell  yer  that,  though,  old 
man.  I  read  in  the  Washington  paper  that 
just  arrived  here  that  the  police  are  on  the 
trail  of  the  persons  suspected  of  assaultin' 
James  Kelly  in  Glad  Hand  Mike's  place  on 
Monday  night,  and  have  traced  them  in  the 
direction  of  Tellalapec,  where  the  injured 
man  is  bein'  brought  for  treatment.  We'd 
better  vamoose.  He  must  be  the  guy  they 
sent  down  an  ambulance  with  a  stretcher  for 
this  evening.  Gee !  that  must  be  him  coming 
now." 

He  went  off  to  investigate  as  an  ambu- 
lance went  by  to  the  sanitarium. 

Farnum  came  along  with  Farmer  Simpson, 
the  former  reading  aloud  from  a  newspaper. 


98  TTff^  TIME,  THE  PLACE 

*  AND  THE  GIBL 


"What  does  it  say,  old  man?"  inquired 
Cunningham  anxiously. 

"It  says  the  man  who  was  done  up  in  Glad 
Hand  Mike's  place  Monday  night  is  being 
brought  to  Tellalapec  because  his  sister's  the 
head  nurse  here." 

"What!"  exclaimed  Cunningham  startled. 
"The  wounded  man  is  MolHe's  brother? 
Gad,  that's  hard  luck !" 

"Yes — she's  one  of  the  finest  gals  I  ever 
sot  eyes  on,"  said  Simpson.  "The  police  are 
comin'  here  to  look  fer  the  fellow  that  licked 
him." 

At  this  juncture  Johnny  returned  looking 
worried. 

"Does  he  seem  to  be  badly  hurt?"  asked 
Cunningham  anxiously. 


Y^E  TIME,  THE  PLACE  99 

AND  THE  GIBL 

"They  had  to  carry  him  easy  or  he'd  fall 
apart." 

"Where  is  he  hurt  the  worst?"  Simpson 
wanted  to  know. 

"I  couldn't  say.  He's  hurt  the  best  on  top 
of  the  head,"  rejoined  Johnny.  "If  he  had 
about  one  more  dent  in  him  he'd  look  like  a 
waffle." 

Cunningham  and  Hicks  walked  on. 

"Johnny,"  said  the  former,  "they  say  the 
police  are  likely  to  be  here  at  any  time." 

"That's  no  song  without  words.  I  think 
it's  up  to  us  to  duck  before  the  soft  shoe  boys 
get  us  spotted," 

"I  want  to  see  Margaret  for  a  few  minutes, 
then  if  she  won't  go  with  me — well,  you  and  I 
will  get  away  as  soon  as  possible.    I  don't  sup- 


100  nrHE  TIME,  THE  PLACE 

AND  THE  QIBL 


pose  there  is  any  chance  that  the  fellow  will 
die?" 

"Naw — nothin'  like  that.  Only  you  might 
get  sent  up  fer  a  few  months  if  the  cops  get 
here  an'  pinch  you.  Say,  here's  the  Queen 
of  Sheba  right  now.  You  blow  for  a  few 
minutes  an'  I'll  try  and  talk  to  her  square 
so's  to  give  you  an  openin'  when  you  spiel 
with  her  fer  the  last  time." 

"Going  to  use  the  rough  treatment  again  ?" 
asked  Cunningham  slyly. 

"Nothing  like  that — nothing  like  that,"  an- 
swered Johnny,  reddening.  "I'll  play  'em 
close  to  my  vest  and  see  if  she  weakens;  then 
if  she  stands  fer  the  loud  talk  I'll  up  an'  snap 
a  piece  out  of  her  arm,  so's  all  you'll  have  to 
do  will  be  to  slip  her  the  ring.'* 


Y^E  TIME,  TEE  PLACE  101 

AND  THE  GIRL 

"All  right.  I'll  find  out  about  the  trains 
and  come  right  back." 

He  pretended  not  to  have  seen  Margaret 
and  walked  off. 

Johnny  advanced  smilingly  upon  her. 

"Do  you  know  whether  he  is  seriously 
hurt?"  she  inquired. 

"Sure,  he  gets  dotty  around  the  heart  an' 
has  to  hold  onto  somethin'  every  time  he  sees 
you." 

"How  dare  you !  I  was  referring  to  the  in- 
valid who  has  just  arrived  here." 

"Was  you?  Well,  I'm  talking  about  Tom 
Cunningham.  He's  the  only  guy  around 
here  that's  worth  talking'  about,  take  it  from 
me.  I'd  like  to  tell  you  some  things  on  the 
level  about  him,  because  he  ain't  like  the  rest 
of  them  mutts  that  are  black  with  money. 


102  yff^  TIME,  THE  PLACE 

AND  TEE  GIBL 


Maybe  he  falls  once  in  a  while,  but  when  it 
comes  to  provin'  whether  you're  a  man  or  a 
chair-warmer,  he's  got  the  rest  of  them  Fifth 
Avenue  Indians  lookin'  like  the  last  of  the 
Mohicans.  Many's  the  time  I've  had  an  awful 
crimp  put  in  me  an'  he's  dug  down  in  his 
kick  to  stake  me  when  I'd  hit  the  toboggan." 

"If  you  think  I  have  any  interest  in  Mr. 
Cunningham,  you're  mistaken.  I  oughtn't 
even  to  discuss  him  with  you,  further  than  to 
say  that  a  man  who  will  get  married  while  at 
college  and  desert  his  wife  simply  because  his 
father  refuses  to  support  her,  isn't  worth 
mentioning.  You're  very  loyal,  so  I  presume 
he's  'staked'  you  often,  as  you  express  it." 

"If  you've  got  it  sized  up  that  I'm  doin' 
this  because  he's  handed  me  coin  when  I  was 
on  the  tram,  you're  work  is  coarser  than  I 


'THE  TIME,  TEE  PLACE  103 

AND  TEE  GIRL 

thought  it  was  an'  you  ain't  worth  his  gettin' 
sore  about,  that's  all.  He's  apt  to  pull  out  of 
this  burg  in  an  awful  hurry.  Shall  I  tell  him 
you  want  to  see  him  before  he  goes?" 

"You  might  tell  him  that  when  he  develops 
the  good  taste  to  speak  for  himself,  instead 
of  sending  you,  he  may  also  have  learned  to 
look  up  to  a  woman  in  the  proper  way." 

"Well,  if  he  came  the  soft,  sad  talk  on  a 
lady  that  guy  Farnum  pulls,  he  couldn't  hire 
me  to  train  with  him  here  even  if  he  had  a 
roll  you  could  choke  a  window  with.  Take 
it  from  me — Tom's  a  real  one.  He's  the  kind 
that  only  come  one  in  a  box," 

He  saw  his  friend  returning  and  strolled 
away.  Cunningham  approached  the  girl  de- 
terminedly. She  had  not  seen  him  coming 
and  had  seated  herself. 


104  Y^^  TIME,  TEE  PLACE 

AND  TEE  GIRL 

"Will  you  talk  to  me  for  a  few  minutes?" 
he  entreated. 

"I've  talked  with  your  street  friend  too 
much  already,"  she  responded  coldly,  rising 
to  depart. 

"Margaret,"  he  said  passionately,  "can't 
you  listen  to  me  in  the  way  you  used  to?  I 
know  I'm  not  an  angel,  and  perhaps  my  ideals 
don't  correspond  with  the  boarding  school 
ideas  of  chivalry,  but  I  know  that  I  love  you 
with  my  whole  heart  and  soul  and  that  if  any- 
one can  make  a  man  out  of  me  it  is  you." 

"I  think  we  understand  each  other,  so 
there's  no  need  of  going  over  that,"  she  re- 
torted, turning  her  back  on  him  and  moving 
away. 

Profoundly  chagrined  and  humiliated  Cun- 
ningham watched   her  go.     Hicks   rejoined 


HTHE  TIME,  THE  PLACE  105 

•*  AND  TEE  GIRL 


him.  They  descended  from  the  piazza  and 
walked  from  the  hotel  at  a  rapid  pace,  neither 
speaking. 

"Johnny,"  exclaimed  Cunningham  sud- 
denly, desperation  in  his  voice,  "I  can't  give 
her  up.  I  simply  can't  do  it.  And  I've  got 
to  stay  here — I  don't  dare  go  away.  Yet  if 
the  police  come  and  find  out  that  I  was  the 
man  who  struck  Kelly  they  will  arrest  me 
and  my  chance  of  winning  that  girl  will  be 
all  over.  Now,  if  I  pay  your  fine,  and  stake 
you  to  a  bundle  of  money  afterwards,  will 
you  tell  the  police  you  did  it?  They  don't 
know  which  one  of  us  it  was  and  I'm  trying 
the  one  chance  of  my  life  to  win  this  girl. 
You  haven't  anything  like  that  to  care  about. 
I  hate  to  ask  it,  old  pal,  but  it  looks  like  the 


106  'THE  TIME,  THE  PLACE 

AND  THE  GIRL 

only  hope,  and  I'll  try  to  make  it  right  with 
you." 

''Sure,  old  man — I'd  follow  the  flag  for 
you  any  time.  Only  cut  out  that  about  the 
money.  You've  been  a  white  man  to  me  and 
it's  all  right." 

Cunningham  grasped  his  hand. 

"God  bless  you,  Johnny,"  he  said.  "I'll  go 
right  back." 

"Gee,  it's  tough  to  be  fixed  that  way,"  ob- 
served Hicks  sympathetically,  to  himself. 
"I'm  beginning  to  know  somethin'  how  it  is 
when  you  love  a  girl.  Probably  about  next 
week  they'll  say,  Tut  his  Nobs  in  padded 
cell  17,  where  he  can't  see  her.' " 

He  retraced  his  steps  leisurely,  making  a 
detour  towards  the  sanitarium.  On  the  way 
he  encountered  Mollie  as  he  had  expected 
and  hoped  to  do. 


'TEE  TIME,  THE  PLACE  107 

'  AND  THE  GIRL 

"Hullo!"  he  said  by  way  of  greeting, 
"How's  the  waffle  comin'  on?" 

"The  waffle?"  she  repeated,  looking  puz- 
zled. 

"I  mean  the  guy  they  brought  in  here  with 
all  the  dents  in  him — the  one  that  was  beat 
up — that  guy  Kelly.  Gee,  that's  your  name, 
too,  ain't  it  ?  I  never  thought  of  that.  Ain't 
that  funny !" 

She  did  not  answer,  and  gazing  squarely 
at  her  he  saw  a  peculiar  expression  on  her 
face  and  tears  in  her  eyes. 

"Say,"  he  said,  stopping  short  and  turning 
pale  as  a  fearful  suspicion  entered  his  mind, 
"he  ain't" 

"Yes,"  she  replied  with  trembling  lips, 
"he's  my  brother." 


CHAPTER  VI 

Farmer  Jasper  Simpson  was  an  invalid  at 
last.    Coming  down  from  a  climb  to  the  top 
of  the  mountain  with  Bud  he  had  descried 
MoUie  with  skirts  raised  so  that  she  displayed 
her  ankles,  tripping  across  the  wet  lawn  near 
the  hotel,  and  in  his  eagerness  to  get  a  better 
view  of  her  he  had  fallen  and  bumped  his 
head.      He    also    had    sprained    his    ankle. 
Wherefor  he  was  under  Mollie's  care  in  earn- 
est, to  his  huge  delight.    But  as  he  sat  out  in 
the  sunshine  in  front  of  the  sanitarium  he 
looked  glum.     His  nurse  had  installed  him 
there  so  as  to  get  him  out  of  the  way  and 
then  had  left  him  alone  all  morning.     Her 
duties  over  for  the  time  being,  she  remem- 
bered him  again  and  came  out. 

108 


'THS  TIME,  THE  PLACE  109 

AND  THE  GIBL 

"What's  the  matter?"  she  inquired.  *'What 
are  you  looking  so  down-in-the-mouth 
about?" 

"Nothin's  the  matter,"  he  replied,  bright- 
ening up  instantly.  "That  feller  Johnny 
laughed  at  me  and  it  kinder  hurt  my  feelin's." 

"If  that's  all  you're  hurt  you're  lucky," 

"Say,  if  I  had  somebody  like  you  to  take 
care  of  me  always,  by  George,  I  wouldn't  care 
if  I  broke  my  neck  three  times  a  day." 

"Ain't  it  the  truth?  But  you  can't  con  me, 
mister.  I've  seen  too  many.  You  know  it's 
a  darned  funny  job,  being  a  nurse." 

"Then  I'd  think  ye'd  like  to  quit  and  marry 
some  nice  old  feller  that  was  all-fired  gener- 
ous with  his  money.  Jest  to  show  ye,  lemme 
send  up  and  git  ye  a  nice  red  apple." 

"No,    they've   got   some   right  pert   cider 


110  J'^£  TIME,  THE  PLACE 

AND  THE  GIBL 

here,  nice  and  hard,  that  can  beat  apples  forty- 
ways  for  Sunday." 

"Is  that  so?"  he  said,  pulling  out  a  sock 
full  of  money  and  carefully  selecting  a  dime. 
"Get  a  Httle  cider  in  me  an'  I'm  just  as  liable 
as  not  to  raise  Ned  around  here.  I  ain't  felt 
so  full  of  the  old  Harry  sence  I  was  up  to 
New  York  an'  spent  ten  dollars  seein'  the 
hull  town.     How  high  does  it  come?" 

"This  is  about  3,000  feet  above  sea  level. 
Wait  till  I  give  the  order." 

When  she  returned  the  old  man  was  tying 
up  his  sock-purse  preparatory  to  restoring  it 
to  his  pocket. 

"So  that's  the  way  you  keep  your  money, 
is  it?"  she  observed. 

"Yep;  hed  that  old  sock  for  twenty  years. 
Guess  I'll  have  to  git  it  washed  an'  won't  have 


.  •■  -  '        — ^ 


'pour  dollars : " 


Page  111. 


nrUE  TIME,  TEE  PLACE  111 

AND  THE  GIBL 


to  squander  fifteen  or  twenty  cents  fer  a 
new  one.  Waste  of  money,  'cause  I  can't 
wear  the  dum'd  thing." 

A  waiter  came  out  with  a  small  table  and 
a  tray  on  which  were  a  couple  of  glasses  and 
a  bottle  of  champagne.  He  deposited  the 
tray  on  the  table  and  uncorked  the  bottle. 
Simpson  tendered  the  dime  to  him.  The  man 
looked  at  the  coin  and  at  the  farmer  inquir- 
ingly. 

"Well,  ain't  that  right?"  demanded  Jasper. 

"Yes,  I  guess  the  dime's  all  right,"  replied 
the  man,  "but  the  bottle  costs  four  dollars." 

"Four  dollars !" 

He  gasped,  and  nearly  fainted,  but  a  peal 
of  laughter  from  Mollie  brought  a  sickly  grin 
to  his  face.    It  would  not  do  to  appear  mean. 

"Did  ye  tell  me  that  was  hard  cider?"  he 


112  Y^^  TIME,  THE  PLACE 

AND  TEE  GIRL 

said,  as  ruefully  he  brought  out  the  sock 
again  and  counted  the  money. 

"Yes — they  call  it  that  because  it's  hard  to 
buy.  Do  you  feel  any  better  after  tasting 
it?" 

"If  I  didn't  the  obituary  notice  would  be 
on  the  street  by  this  time.  Yep,  I  feel  bet- 
ter, but  what  I  need  is  somebody  to  take  care 
of  me.  Ain't  so  chipper  as  I  used  to  be.  Kind 
o'  think  I  ought  to  git  married  agin.  It's 
cheaper  to  git  married  than  hirin'  a  servant." 

"That's  about  as  good  a  reason  as  some 
people  have  for  marrying.  Lots  of  women 
marry  because  the  janitor  won't  let  'em  keep 
a  pet  dog.'' 

"Come  to  think  of  it,  I  ain't  such  a  bad 
marryin'  proposition  fer  nobody.  I've  got  as 
high  as  three  million  dollars  in  the  bank;  in- 


'ITHE  TIME,  THE  PLACE  113 

AND  THE  GIRL 

cludin'  the  first  dollar  I  ever  made.  I  own  all 
o'  Saskatchewan  county — thirty-six  barns — a 
thousand  head  o'  live  stock" 

"Does  that  include  Bud?" 

"Yes.  Then  most  everybody  in  New 
Hampshire  is  my  friends." 

"Do  they  know  it?" 

"Everybody  says  I'm  a  man  the  county 
ought  to  be  proud  of.  I  go  to  church  every 
Sunday,  I'm  a  good  hand  at  the  bosses  and 
don't  never  drink  or  smoke." 

"Some  people  ain't  bad  because  it  costs 
money." 

"I  got  more  money  than  ye  could  load  on 
a  hayrack,  an'  I  got  to  thinkin'  if  there  was 
somebody  about  your  size  to  help  me  keep 
it,  it  would  be  a  good  thing  for  both  of  us. 
Of  course  we'd  spend  some   of  it  now  an' 


114  y^^  TIME,  TEE  PLACE 

AND  THE  GIBL 

then.  The  way  I  paid  fer  that  cider  ought  to 
show  ye  how  generous  I  am." 

"Let  me  tip  you  to  something.  I've  han- 
dled enough  of  you  boys  on  the  sloping  side 
of  forty-eight  to  know  that  you  need  a  gov- 
erness more  than  a  wife.    Ain't  it  the  truth?" 

"No — it  all  depends.  I  was  so  good  to  my 
first  wife  that  she  was  awful  sorry  to  die  an' 
leave  me.  Ef  I  could  find  somebody  jest 
about  like  you  to  take  her  place  an'  help  run 
the  farm  I'd  marry  her.  When  I  look  at  ye, 
ye  kind  o'  take  me  back  to  the  time  when  I 
was  a-courtin'  her,  walkin'  through  the  old 
orchard,  listenin'  to  the  katydids,  with  her 
little  hand  in  mine." 

He  looked  up  at  her  sentimentally  and  took 
her  hand,  Johnny  coming  out  of  the  sani- 
tarium,  where   he   had   submitted   to   many 


'TSE  TIME,  THE  PLACE  115 

AND  THE  GIRL 

drink  cures  in  order  to  be  near  Mollie,  saw 
them  and  became  uneasy  as  jealousy  gripped 
his  heart. 

"Ain't  he  the  comic  lover?"  he  muttered. 
"He's  puffin'  through  his  nose  Hke  Sapho  in 
the  third  act.  But  he's  got  such  a  bundle 
of  money,  I  guess  I'm  up  against  the  frosty 
outside,  and  he's  got  me  shell-roaded  fer 
fair.  I  don't  cut  very  many  lemons  around 
here  anyhow.  Gee — now  he's  tellin'  her  all 
about  all  the  excitement  in  that  web-footed 
town  of  his.  If  he  was  in  the  city  he'd  get 
run  over  by  a  hearse  inside  of  a  week." 

He  went  over  to  them  determined  to  end 
the  dangerous  flirtation,  and  was  in  time  to 
hear  the  farmer  say  as  he  adduced  further 
arguments  in  support  of  his  suit : 

"Then  there's  that  son  o'  mine,  Bud.   He's 


116  JTHE  TIME,  THE  PLACE 

AND  THE  GIRL 

right  smart.  Young  as  he  is  he's  earnin' 
three  a  week." 

"That's  high  if  you  ever  seen  Bud,"  com- 
mented Johnny. 

The  farmer  scowled  at  him,  irritated  ter- 
ribly by  this  untimely  interruption.  But  Mol- 
lie  inquired: 

"Did  you  notice  how  the  man  in  No.  i6 
was?" 

"Yes,  he's  sleepin'." 

"Has  he  had  any  lucid  periods?" 

"I  didn't  give  him  nuthin'  but  the  regular 
medicine." 

"Did  No.  ID  take  his  medicine  all  right?" 

"Sure  he  did.  I  closed  with  him  an'  beat 
him  to  a  whisper." 

"Is  that  all?" 


'TEE  TIME,  TEE  PLACE  117 

'■  AND  TEE  GIRL 

"No,  there  was  a  guy  said  he  wanted  some- 
thin'  to  settle  his  stomach." 

"Did  you  give  it  to  him?" 

"Sure,  I  feinted  wid  me  left — side  stepped 
— then  planted  a  hard  right  on  him  just  above 
the  belt.    That  settled  everything." 

Mollie  laughed  and  obeying  Johnny's  ur- 
gent signs  walked  away  with  him. 

"You  seem  to  make  an  awful  fuss  over  that 
old  guy,"  he  said  reproachfully.  "I  guess  my 
name  is  pants  all  right." 

"I  got  him  to  loosen  up  for  five  hundred 
to  give  to  the  Nurses'  Fund.  Can  you  beat 
that?" 

He  gazed  at  her  with  wonder  and  admira- 
tion. 

"You  got  him  just  as  good  as  strapped  to 
the  operating  table,"  he  said.   "Anybody  that 


118  J'F^  TIME,  TEE  PLACE 

AND  TEE  GIRL 

can  get  national  bank  lithographs  out  of  that 
wad  is  entitled  to  the  load  of  coal." 

"He  is  a  little  bit  close  to  himself." 

"Why,  that  guy  would  go  to  see  the  wax 
figures  in  front  of  a  clothing  store  and  have 
the  time  of  his  life,  because  it  didn't  cost  any- 
thing. But  say,  lady,  is  he  a  favorite  with 
you  ?  If  he  is  I'll  scratch  my  entry.  I  don't 
want  to  be  in  just  as  a  pacemaker." 

"Don't  weaken.  Do  you  know  what  he'd 
do  if  I  ever  approached  him  again  with  a 
touch  for  money?" 

"No— tell  it  to  me." 

"He'd  call  up  the  Chief  of  Police  and  ask 
for  a  squad.  You  can't  bunco  these  wise 
Rubes  more  than  once." 

"If  he  ain't  the  big  squeal  with  you,  I  got 
somethin'  to  get  off  my  mind.    I  don't  know 


fBE  TIME,  TEE  PLACE  119 

^  AND  THE  OIEL 

whether  I  can  say  it  or  not  because  whenever 
I  even  think  of  it  my  throat  gets  so  dry  I 
can't  talk  and  I  have  to  lunch  on  my  Adam's 
apple.  What  I  want  to  say  is  this — Do  you 
think  you  could  ever  love  me  without  straiit- 
in'  yourself?  Could  we  get  measured  for 
harness?" 

"Don't  answer,"  he  interrupted  hastily.  "I 
don't  want  to  know  yet.  I  ain't  feelin' 
strong  enough  to  stand  it.  Before  you  tell 
me  I  can't  ride  any  further  without  a  ticket 
I  want  to  tell  you  how  it  all  happened.  The 
first  time  I  met  you  you  smiled,  and,  on  the 
grave,  it  made  me  so  dizzy  I  almost  passed 
away  right  there.  Ever  since  that  time  I 
been  hearing  funny  noises  under  my  bonnet 
and  I  ain't  near  the  same  wise  Willie  I  used 


120  'TEE  TIME,  THE  PLAGE 

AND  THE  GlEL 


to  be.  At  one  time  I  thought  I  could  look 
any  shirt-waist  in  the  face  and  tell  her 
There's  nothing  doing' — but  that  was  before 
I  seen  you.  I  was  bound  to  get  bumped 
some  time  and  just  because  I  bragged  I  got 
it  thrown  into  me  twice  as  hard.  Do  you  get 
me  at  all?  I'm  no  good  at  the  love  spiel.  I 
never  had  any  use  for  a  guy  that  could  tell  a 
girl  he  loved  her  right  to  her  face,  but  now 
I  know  he's  got  a  lot  more  nerve  than  I  have. 
Will  you  believe  me,  I  never  said  anything 
like  this  to  a  girl  before  and  I  don't  think 
I  ever  will  again.  I've  got  stage  fright. 
Mind,  I  ain't  asking  you  to  do  nothin'  hasty. 
I  ain't  salted  a  million  yet  like  the  old  boy 
from  the  back  woods,  but  I  got  a  bundle  of 
money  on  a  good  thing  that's  goin'  to  be 
pulled  ofif  at  Latonia.    She'll  back  in  nodding 


'"THE  TIME,  TEE  PLACE  121 

AND  TEE  GIRL 

to  friends  in  the  judge's  stand.  If  she  wins 
the  band's  going  to  play  'Dixie.'  Do  you 
think  then  maybe  you'd  look  me  over  to  see 
if  I'm  a  good  risk  ?" 

"You've  made  an  awful  hit  with  me,"  she 
admitted  seriously,  "and  I  think  you're  the 
kind  of  man  my  brother  would  like  when  he 
gets  well." 

"Your  brother?  You  mean  him,  that's  in 
there  ?"  he  inquired,  feeling  his  heart  sinking 
within  him. 

"Yes.  I  told  you  what  pals  we  were." 
"Sure,  I  know.  I  'spose  his  troubles  are 
your  troubles.  I  guess  you  wouldn't  have 
any  use  for  a  man  that  turned  off  the  sunshine 
on  him.  You'd  hate  the  fellow  that  Hcked 
him,  wouldn't  you?" 


122  yn^  TIME,  TEE  PLACE 

AND  THE  GIRL 


"In  a  minute.  But  I  know  the  kid  will  mix 
with  you  when  he  gets  well." 

"I  hope  not — I  mean,  I'm  glad  you  thinR 
so.  Do  you  think  you  go  as  far  as  sealing 
this?  I  don't  know  the  polite  custom  about 
it.  On  the  grave,  I  never  kissed  a  real  girl, 
but  no  one  can  see  us  here  with  these  bushes 
in  the  way." 

"If  I  gave  you  just  one  kiss  would  you  be 
satisfied  ?" 

"No,  I'd  want  a  thousand  more." 

"Then  you  may  have  just  one — and  you 
needn't  keep  your  fingers  crossed.  I  want 
one  of  the  May  Irwin  kind,  with  lots  of  gin- 
ger to  it." 

While  Johnny  was  being  transported  to 
the  firmament  by  the  first  kiss  with  the  first 
girl  he  had  ever  really  loved,  Laurie  Farnum, 


Y^E  TIME,  TEE  PLACE  183 

AND  THE  GIRL 

noticing  the  farmer  alone  and  disconsolate 
sauntered  up. 

"Have  a  cigar,"  he  invited. 

"They  ain't  nothin'  wrong  with  it,  is  they?'' 
inquired  Jasper  suspiciously.  "I'll  take  it  be- 
cause I'm  savin'  the  bands." 

"Mr.  Simpson,  I  want  to  ask  you  a  ques- 
tion," said  Farnum,  getting  right  down  to 
business.  "What  would  you  say  if  I  were  to 
ask  for  the  hand  of  your  daughter  Margaret 
in  marriage?" 

"What  are  your  prospects?" 

"I  think  she  would  be  willing  if  you  are." 

"I  don't  mean  that.  Are  ye  in  a  business 
that's  prosperin'?  Are  ye  industrious?  Are 
ye  ever  up  at  sunrise?" 

"That's  me — but  I'm  not  always  able  to 
see  it." 


124  ir^^  TIME,  TEE  PLACE 

'  AND  THE  GIBL 

"Are  ye  a  hustler?" 

"I  don't  have  to  be — my  habits  are  so  fast. 
I  don't  have  to  hustle." 

"Well,  my  son  Bud  likes  ye,  an'  I  don't  dis- 
like ye.    Have  ye  asked  Maggie  about  it  ?" 

"Not  in  plain  words,  Mr.  Simpson,  not  in 
plain  words.  You  see,  I  thought  it  would  be 
proper — more  honorable — to  confer  with  you 
about  it.  I  rather  flatter  myself  that  I  am 
not  exactly  hated  by  your  daughter  and  that 
if  you  are  agreeable  there  will  be  no  diffi- 
culty in  obtaining  her  consent." 

"I'll  think  it  over.  I  rayther  like  the  way 
you're  goin'  about  this  thing,  an'  I'll  think 
it  over — but  not  now.  I've  a  little  business 
on  hand  yere  with  somebody  I'm  waitin' 
fer." 

"All  right,"  said  Farnum  shaking  his  hand 
warmly.    "I'll  see  you  later." 


CHAPTER  VII 

"Johnny,  you  won't  forget  your  promise,  if 
the  police  come,  will  you?  I'm  rather  ner- 
vous about  it,  and  want  to  be  sure  it's  all 
right." 

Cunningham's  reminder  brought  Johnny 
back  to  earth  from  the  azure  in  which  his  soul 
had  been  soaring  as  he  looked  out  on  the 
magnificent  view  and  thought  of  Mollie. 

"It's  different  when  you  love,"  went  on  his 
friend  and  patron  apologetically,  feeling 
ashamed  of  the  sacrifice  he  had  called  upon 
Hicks's  loyalty  to  make  for  him,  and  seeking 
to  excuse  himself.  "You'll  know  how  it  is 
yourself,  some  day," 

"Yeah,"  answered  Johnny  huskily.  "It's 
different  when  you  love  a  girl." 

125 


126  'TEE  TIME,  THE  PLACE 

Am)  THE  GIEL 

'Then  if  they  come  it  will  be  all  right?" 

Hicks  looked  at  him  and  drew  a  deep 
breath  as  he  answered. 

"Sure — yeah — yes,  old  pal." 

"Johnny,  I've  found  out  about  that  water 
cure  business,  and  ordered  it  stopped." 

"Thanks,  but  I've  had  it  stopped  myself. 
I'm  exempt,  immune,  now.  But  how  did  it 
all  happen?    That's  what  I  can't  figure  out." 

"Laurie's  physican — tipped  ofT  by  his  father 
— gave  him  a  letter  to  the  sanitarium  telling 
them  to  give  him  the  water  cure,  whether  he 
wanted  it  or  not.  Laurie  gets  wise,  reads  it, 
hands  it  to  you" 

"An'  then  Patsy  is  the  fall  guy.  Say,  on 
the  grave,  the  way  I  feel  now  I  couldn't  look 
a  drink  in  the  face.  I  never  did  get  to  the  suds 
very  often,  but  if  you  pushed  a  tall  one  with 


Y^E  TIME,  THE  PLACE  127 

AND  THE  GIBL 

a  high  collar  toward  me,  I'd  bark  and  go 
right  over  the  fence  without  touchin'  my 
hands." 

"Did  they  put  you  through  the  sulphur 
baths?" 

"When  I  came  out  of  that  stuff  the  air  was 
blue.  I  was  still  groggy  an'  tryin'  to  clinch 
to  avoid  punishment,  when  the  main  squeeze 
sez:  'Better  give  it  to  him  now,  before  he 
comes  out  of  it.'  With  that  them  gorillas 
closes  in  on  me  an'  I  finishes  fifteen  minutes 
later,  comin'  through  a  wringer.  I  went  back 
to  look  for  my  stomach,  but  nobody  had  seen 
it.  Now  I  want  to  get  an  awful  tide  on,  but 
I  couldn't  do  it  without  havin'  a  spasm. 
There's  nothin'  left  for  me  to  do  but  take  the 
veil — an'  get  even  with  Laurie.  But,  on  the 
grave,  Tom,  I'd  rather  take  three  water  cures 


128  nr^^  TIME,  TEE  PLACE 

AND  THE  GIBL 


a  day  than  go  away  from  this  place  while 
she's  there." 

He  nodded  towards  the  sanitarium. 

"You  mean  Mollie?" 

"You're  next.  From  now  on  she's  the  big 
squeal  with  me.  I  didn't  know  how  bad  I'd 
stumbled  over  the  live  wire  till  I  seen  her  out 
here  to-day  listenin'  to  that  old  webfoot 
makin'  a  soft  talk  to  her.  It  looked  as  if  he 
had  the  rollers  under  me  right.  Guess  I 
squared  it  all  up  with  her,  but  that  old  guy's 
got  such  a  bundle  of  coin  that  I  look  Hke  a 
piker  tryin'  to  cut  in  on  him  if  he  wants  her. 
She  don't  care  nothin'  about  the  coin,  though. 
That's  the  kind  of  a  girl  she  is." 

"Are  you  thinking  of  getting  married?". 

"Just  as  soon  as  I  can  get  out  an'  make 
some  kind  of  a  killin'  I'll  tell  her  she  can 


^HE  TIME,  TEE  PLACE  129 

^  AND  TEE  GIBL 

have  me  for  steady  car-fare  any  time  she  says 
the  word.  I  guess  I'm  tryin'  to  cash  a  hop- 
dream  though.  You  can't  connect  with  any 
of  the  gilt  inside  here." 

"Might  gamble  with  Laurie  and  old  man 
Simpson." 

"It  ain't  a  bad  idea  at  that.  I'd  Hke  to  have 
a  chance  to  pry  some  coin  out  of  the  old  man. 
He  was  sittin'  there  to-day  tryin'  to  grab  her 
mit,  an'  givin'  her  a  look  that  would  'a'melted 
the  heart  of  a  bank  dealer.  Oh,  Laura! 
Thursday  always  was  my  Jonah  day." 

"She's  a  mighty  nice  girl,  and  I  hope  you 
will  win  out." 

"Yes — but  if  I  can't  raise  the  samoleons 
it'll  crab  the  whole  biz.  I'm  nearly  on  my 
rollers  now.  Say,  she  makes  me  feel  more 
than  ever  that  I  wouldn't  have  much  respect 


130  J'F^  TIME,  TEE  PLACE 

AND  THE  GIRL 

for  a  girl  that  married  me  if  she  was  onto 
me." 

"Brace  up,  old  man.  Try  one  of  these 
cigars." 

"I  have.    They're  not  guilty." 

"I  hope  that  fellow  Kelly  is  better.  If  he 
recovers  quickly  it  may  save  trouble." 

"I  hope  so,  too.  Not  because  I  care  any- 
thing about  the  wafBe  himself — I  guess  he 
had  it  comin'  to  him — but,  on  the  grave,  if 
I'd  a-known  her,  and  that  he  was  her  brother 
I  wouldn't  'a'let  you  hit  him.  Mollie's  the 
best  bet  around  here;  she's  got  the  rest  of  'em 
all  pullin'  up  lame  back  of  the  flag.  Say — 
can  ye  imagine  me  an'  her  an'  a  bunch  of  lit- 
tle golden-haired  darlings  romping  around 
with  the  bottle  of  soothin'  syrup?" 

"There's  your  chance,"  said  Cunningham. 


•rHE  TIME,  THE  PLACE  131 

*  AND  THE  GIBL 


"Laurie,  the  farmer  and  Stokes,  the  manager, 
are  just  sitting  down  to  a  poker  game  yon- 
der.   Sail  in,  and  good  luck  to  you." 

"Ain't  you  goin'  to  sit  in  ?" 

"No,  I've  quit  the  cards  and  the  flowing 
bowl.  I  wouldn't  do  it  for  a  pot  of  a  thousand 
and  the  winning  hand." 

"There  may  be  some  things  I  wouldn't  do 
for  a  thousand,  but  I  kinder  lose  track  of  'em. 
Here's  where  I  play  for  three — meanin'  me 
and  MolHe  and  yourself  thrown  in  for  friend- 
ship." 

Johnny  was  made  welcome  and  the  game 
started.  He  hoped  to  clear  up  some  money, 
but  he  httle  knew  what  was  in  store  for  him. 

"It's  your  ante,  Mr.  Simpson,"  he  said, 
when  the  latter  had  dealt  the  cards.  "It's  a 
nickel  ante  game." 


132  Y^^  TIME,  TEE  PLACE 

AND  TEE  GIRL 


"Do  I  have  to  ante  whether  I  want  to  play 
or  not?" 

"Sure — sure!" 

"I  can't  open  it,"  declared  Laurie. 

"I'm  by,"  announced  the  manager. 

The  farmer  was  holding  his  cards  close  to 
his  eyes  and  mumbling,  uncertain  what  to  do. 

"Father  has  to  have  a  long  talk  with  him- 
self before  he  takes  any  chances,"  remarked 
Johnny.  ''I  can  tell  he's  got  better'n  Jacks 
because  he's  so  nervous.  It's  not  fair  looking 
the  spots  off  the  cards.  What  do  you  do, 
Mr.  Simpson?" 

"By  heck,  I'll  open  her !" 

"How  much?" 

"Oh,  about  one  bean — I  mean  a  cent." 

"He's  been  used  to  playing  with  lima  beans 


fHE  TIME,  TEE  PLACE  133 

"■  AND  TEE  GIBL 


— three  for  a  cent,"  commented  Johnny  dis- 
gustedly. 

"1  want  to  ask  a  question,"  said  the  cau- 
tious countryman.    "Is  it  fair  to  bluff?" 

"Sure." 

"Then  I'll  take  one  card." 

Farnum  wanted  to  know  who  was  doing 
the  betting. 

"Mr.  Simpson,"  explained  Hicks.  "He 
opened — but  give  him  time  to  get  his  nerve 
up.  The  rules  of  the  game  are  to  count  your 
money  before  and  after  each  bet.  Don't 
weaken,  old  man,  don't  weaken." 

"I'll  just  risk  a  whole  nickel." 

"Honest,"  exclaimed  Johnny  with  admira- 
tion. "You  ought  to  be  playin'  ring  around 
a  rosy.  I'll  stay  in  just  to  show  I'm  nice  peo- 
ple.   I  call  you." 


134  HTEE  TIME,  TEE  PLACE 

AND  TEE  GIRL 

"I'm  out,"  announced  Farnum. 

The  manager  knocked  to  signify  that  he 
also  was  out. 

"I  got  a  flush,"  said  Jasper  triumphantly. 

"That  beats  my  pair  of  typewriters  all 
right,"  Johnny  admitted.  "You  been  hold- 
ing a  flush  all  this  time?  Let's  see  it.  Three 
diamonds  an'  two  hearts — that  ain't  no  flush." 

"I  guess  I'll  quit  before  I  lose  any  more 
money,"  said  the  farmer  as  Hicks  raked  in 
the  money.     "Gamblin's  a  sin  anyhow." 

With  the  farmer  out  the  trio  sat  down  to 
serious  play. 

"Let's  take  off  the  limit  and  allow  a  little 
money  to  circulate,"  suggested  Farnum. 

The  others  acquiesced  and  the  game  went 
on  in  earnest. 

In  a  little  while  the  manager  gave  up,  an- 


Y'EE  TIME,  TEE  PLACE  135 

'  AND  THE  GIRL 

nouncing  that  he  had  dropped  sixteen  hun- 
dred dollars,  and  the  game  became  a  duel  be- 
tween Johnny  and  Farnum.  It  had  not  pro- 
ceeded far  when  it  was  interrupted  by  the  ad- 
vent of  Bud.  The  long  youth  was  stagger- 
ing, and  he  was  smoking  a  big  cigar. 

"Gee!"    exclaimed   Johnny,    ''look   what's 
comin'." 
.  "I — I's  a  shport,"  proclaimed  Bud  thickly. 

"You're  an  awful  sport  all  right,"  said 
Johnny,  "but  your  legs  and  arms  ain't  got 
no  team  work  about  'em.  And  that  hay  fever 
back  of  yours  ain't  pullin'  right." 

"You've  been  drinking!"  said  his  amazed 
parent  contemplating  him  with  rising  wrath. 

"Yesh  shir,  I  have.  Am  I  drunk,  Mr. 
Hicks?" 

"Can  you  see  me  from  there?" 


136  'JTBE  TIME,  THE  PLACE 

AND  THE  GIRL 

"I  can  see  you  a'  right,  but  whosh  that  sit- 
tin'  beside  you?" 

"You're  drunk,  sure  pop.  These  guys 
that's  been  drinkin'  buttermilk  all  their  lives 
are  awful  Indians  when  they  get  to  throwin' 
in  the  big  bowls." 

"He  must  'a'drunk  twenty-five  cents  worth 
o'  liquor,"  declared  his  parent  angrily.  "Ef 
he  keeps  on  he'll  die  in  the  poor  house.  You 
come  along  o'  me — I'll  fix  ye." 

He  grabbed  the  swaying  Bud  and  grimly 
marched  him  ofif. 

"The  water  cure's  the  cheese  fer  him,"  said 
Johnny,  facing  Laurie  again. 

"I'm  cleaned  out,"  avowed  the  latter. 
"Lucky  at  cards,  unlucky  in  love.  I'll  make 
one  more  bet  on  a  show  down.  Here's  my 
watch.    I'll  put  it  up  against  a  hundred.    If  I 


'"THE  TIME,  THE  PLACE  137 

*■  AND  THE  GIBL 

win  I'll  have  enough  to  get  away  to-morrow 
with  the  best  little  girl  in  the  world.  When 
pop  see's  I've  landed  such  a  wife  it'll  be  a 
new  lease  of  money  to  burn.  Look  it  over — 
see  if  you  care  to  risk  it.  I'm  going  to  get  a 
drink." 

"If  he's  cleaned  out  he  won't  be  in  any 
shape  to  ask  anyone  to  marry  him  to-mor- 
row," soliloquized  Johnny.  "But  I  will,  and 
that's  what  I'll  do.  I'll  ask  Mollie  anyhow. 
I  wonder  if  he  meant  he  was  going  to  marry 
Margaret?  That's  tough  on  Tom.  I  wonder 
if  he  meant  her?" 

He  examined  the  watch.  It  was  a  hand- 
some time-piece,  and  instinctively  he  opened 
it  to  look  inside.  He  nearly  fell  from  his 
chair  with  astonishment  when  the  portrait  of 
Mollie  smiled  at  him  from  the  case.    Mollie! 


138  nr^^  TIME,  TEE  PLACE 

AND  THE  GIRL 

She,  then,  was  the  best  Httle  girl  in  the  world ! 
And  she  had  been  fooling  him,  as  she  fooled 
every  man.  While  apparently  taking  no  no- 
tice of  Farnum  she  was  actually  engaged  to 
him,  and  Farnum  had  been  throwing  dust  in 
everybody's  eyes  by  flirting  with  Miss  Simp- 
son. As  he  thought  about  it  he  admitted 
that  Mollie's  preference  for  Farnum  was  nat- 
ural. His  rival  was  handsome,  well  educated, 
a  gentleman,  the  son  of  a  rich  father  who 
had  cast  him  off,  but  who  if  he  saw  his  son 
settled  might  relent,  while  he,  Johnny,  was 
uneducated  and  had  no  other  means  of  liveli- 
hood than  the  uncertain  one  of  a  gambler. 
He  had  dreamed  of  abandoning  the  gaming 
table  and  of  going  into  business,  in  which 
with  the  incentive  of  having  to  work  for  Mol- 
lie,  he  had  hoped  to  prosper.     Now  all  his 


'rSE  TIME,  THE  PLACE  139 

*  AND  THE  GIRL 

hopes  and  ambition  had  been  swept  away  in 
an  instant. 

Farnum  returned  and  the  game  was  re- 
sumed, but  in  his  perturbation  of  mind 
Johnny  was  careless  and  reckless.  When 
finally  they  rose  from  the  table  he  had  lost 
every  cent  and  Farnum  held  his  I.  O.  U.  for 
one  thousand  dollars. 

"My  luck  would  bring  tears  to  a  pair  of 
glass  eyes,"  groaned  Hicks,  as,  flushed  with 
victory,  Farnum  left  him.  "Flat  broke — not 
a  nickel  in  my  jeans  and  my  I.  O.  U.  out  for 
a  thousand.  And  he'll  spend  it  on  his  honey- 
moon with  Mollie.  I  struck  the  slide  fer  fair. 
Just  as  I  was  writing  mash  notes  to  myself, 
too.  It's  me  to  start  all  over  again.  Mebbe 
I  can  get  a  job  as  dealer  in  some  joint  in  New 
York  at  five  per.    This  is  where  I  say  good- 


140  'THE  TIME,  TEE  PLACE 

AND  THE  GIRL 

bye  to  Mollie  forever.  I  ought  to  know  bet- 
ter than  start  anything  on  Thursday.  Thurs- 
day always  was  my  Jonah  day." 

Farnum  in  high  spirits  set  out  in  search  of 
Margaret  Simpson.  Everything,  as  he  put  it, 
appeared  to  be  coming  his  way.  Farmer 
Simpson  had  been  incHned  to  favor  his  suit, 
and  now  when  he  had  been  reduced  to  the 
amount  of  his  hotel  bill  and  his  fare  back  to 
New  York,  he  had  come  into  funds  ample  to 
enable  him  to  stay  at  Tellalapec  and  put  in 
operation  a  scheme  he  had  mapped  out  and 
partially  announced  in  his  conversation  with 
Hicks.  He  believed  he  had  thrown  such  a 
spell  over  Margaret  that  even  should  her 
father  oppose  their  marriage  he  would  be  able 
to  induce  her  to  elope.  He  knew  his  own 
father  well  enough  to  be  quite  certain  that 


'THE  TIME,  THE  PLACE  141 

ANT)  THE  GIRL 


when  the  old  gentleman  was  made  aware  of 
the  fact  that  he  had  become  "settled,"  and 
that  his  wife  was  the  daughter  of  a  man  worth 
three  million  dollars  he  would  be  restored  to 
favor,  with  the  restoration  also  of  his  at  one 
time  more  than  liberal  allowance. 

He  had  no  difficulty  in  finding  Margaret, 
who  of  an  evening  displayed  a  fondness  for 
sitting  by  herself  on  the  piazza  on  the  quiet 
side  of  the  hotel.  He  drew  a  chair  up  beside 
her. 

"I've  been  thinking  of  you  all  day,"  he 
said.  "Not  that  that  is  anything  new  or  un- 
usual, for  I  think  of  you  every  day — every 
hour  of  the  day," 

"Really,  Mr.  Farnum,  I  can't  imagine  why 
you  should  do  me  the  honor  to  devote  so 


142  nTHE  TIME,  TEE  PLACE 

AND  THE  GIRL 

much  thought  to  me."  she  replied,  smiling 
and  looking  away  from  him. 

*'I  do — ^you  are  to  me  a  perfect  type  of 
woman — combining  with  high  ideals  a  charm 
of  person  and  of  manner  that  is  irresistible. 
Believe  me,  I  am  speaking  from  my  heart.  I 
am  no  flatterer.  You  are  my  good  genius.  I 
am  not  particularly  good,  as  you  understand 
the  term,  and  I  admit  it,  freely  and  regret- 
fully. You  could,  if  you  would,  make  me 
good  and  I  would  know  how  to  treat  a  woman 
like  a  queen." 

"I  believe  you  would,  but  I'm  not  sure  that 
I  have  a  heart." 

"Haven't  you  ever  been  In  love — or  en- 
gaged— or  anything?" 

"No,  I'm  not  one  of  those  girls  who  gets 


mE  TIME,  THE  PLACE  143 

AND  THE  GIBJj 

engaged  every  summer  just  to  keep  her  hand 
in." 

"If  you  married  me,  I  might  be  a  great 
man.  I  know  lots  of  fellows  whose  wives  are 
responsible  for  their  business  success." 

"Yes — their  wives  made  it  necessary  for 
them  to  earn  more  money,"  she  laughed. 

"To  speak  frankly,  what  would  be  your  an- 
swer if  it  came  down  to  a  question  between 
Cunningham  and  me?  He  loves  you  and  so 
do  I." 

"Tom  has  been  married  once.  I  never 
could  marry  a  man  whose  first  affections  had 
been  given  to  another  woman.  Besides,  he 
proved  then  that  he  was  not  enough  of  a  man 
to  win  any  girl's  regard." 

Her  pronouncement  filled  him  with  con- 


144  Y^^  TIME,  THE  PLACE 

AND  THE  GIBL 

sternation.     He  sought  to  conceal  his  agita- 
tion as  he  inquired : 

"Do  you  mean  that  you  would  refuse  a  man 
who  had  been  married  before?" 

"That  is  exactly  what  I  mean.  Why — 
have  you  been  married  also?" 

"I  didn't  say  that.  Then  Tom  is  out  of  it, 
and  I — do  I  win?" 

"Mr.  Farnum  I  told  you  just  now  that  I 
was  not  sure  whether  I  had  a  heart." 

"But  I  am  sure  you  have,"  he  said  eagerly. 
"Say  that  I  win — make  me  now  and  forever 
the  happiest  man  on  earth." 

She  rose,  agitated  in  turn. 

"No,  I  cannot  say  that,"  she  said.  "It  is 
a  very  serious  matter  to  decide.  I  must  have 
time  to  think." 

"But  I  may  hope?" 


Y'SE  TIME,  TEE  PLACE  145 

'■  AND  THE  GIRL 

"I  don't  know — ^no — perhaps." 

Jubilant  at  the  success  of  his  daring  he 
watched  her  go. 

"If  she  doesn't  find  out  about  my  marriage 
to  Mollie,  and  I  don't  see  how  she's  going 
to  do  it,  she's  as  good  as  linked  beyond  los- 
ing by  the  wedding  ring,"  he  chuckled. 
"Now  to  make  sure  Mollie's  not  boasting 
about  it." 

His  former  wife  came  out  of  the  sani- 
tarium door  just  as  he  strolled  by  in  the  hope 
of  seeing  her. 

"Hullo,  Mollie,"  he  said,  "are  you  busy?" 

"Not  particularly.    Why?" 

"I'd  just  like  to  have  a  little  chat  with  you, 
that's  all.  Let's  walk  along  the  path  as  far 
as  the  woods." 

She    assented    by    joining    him.      Johnny 


146  Y^^  TIME,  TEE  PLACE 

AND  THE  GlBL 

lying  behind  the  clump  of  bushes  where  he 
had  kissed  her,  and  where  he  had  gone  with 
aching  heart  to  suffer  in  sweet  torment  on 
the  spot  where  he  had  tasted  of  ineffable  joy, 
saw  them  coming,  and  the  iron  twisted  in  his 
wound.  There  was  no  longer  possibility  of 
doubt. 

*'It*s  funny  that  we've  had  to  live  under  the 
same  roof  again,  so  to  speak,  for  two  weeks, 
when  you  hate  me  so,  isn't  it?"  said  Farnum. 

"Was  it  to  tell  me  this  that  you  came?" 
she  rejoined.  "I  don't  hate  you,  Laurie. 
There  are  lots  of  men  I  don't  hate  that  I 
wouldn't  want  to  be  married  to,  and  you  are 
one  of  them — that's  all.  You  are  lots  of  fun 
for  a  few  minutes,  but  you  don't  last.  If  I 
ever  married  again  it  would  be  to  a  man  like 
—like—" 


u^t 


^^msm^^ 


........ 


JOHNNY   SAW   THEM  COMING,   AND   THE  IRON  TWISTED   IN  HIS  WOUND. 

Par/e  14G. 


HTHE  TIME,  TEE  PLACE  147 

*■  AND  THE  GIBL 


"Like  happy  Johnny  Hicks,  the  gambler, 
I've  seen  you  with  so  often,  for  instance?" 

"I  was  not  mentioning  any  names,  but  the 
man  you  mention  I  do  beHeve  is  a  square, 
honorable  fellow.  There's  something  about 
you,  Laurie,  that  fascinates  a  young  girl.  It 
took  me  in  when  I  was  younger  and  for  a 
while  it  made  an  awful  impression  on  Miss 
Simpson  whom  you  have  been  so  attentive  to 
lately." 

"For  a  while?  Don't  you  think  it's  bet- 
ter than  that?" 

"Laurie,  you're  not  one — t^vo — seven 
with  her.  In  the  long  test  you  don't  stand 
comparison  with  your  friend  Cunningham." 

"That  is  what  you  think — but  you  may  re- 
member we  never  did  agree  on  anything." 


148  Y^^  TIME,  THE  PLACE 

AND  THE  GIBL 


"I  remember.  Still,  I  know  what  I'm  talk- 
ing about." 

"So  do  I,  and,  honestly,  I  think  enough  of 
her  to  marry  her  for  herself." 

"You  do  not.  You  forget  who  you're  talk- 
ing to  when  you  say  that.  I  know  you — 
you'd  marry  any  rich  girl  that  didn't  have 
paralysis  of  her  signing  hand." 

"Well,  if  you  say  so.  But  there's  one 
thing  that  is  to  the  advantage  of  both  of  us — 
not  to  let  our  former  marriage  be  known. 
That  is  what  I  came  to  talk  to  you  about." 

"I'm  not  likely  to  speak  about  it.  You 
know  how  proud  I  am." 

"Precisely.  I  don't  believe  you  would,  but 
if  you  did  it  would  queer  me  and  my  pros- 
pects, and  I  don't  think  you  hate  me  enough 
to  do  that." 


Y'SE  TIME,  TEE  PLACE  149 

'*  AND  THE  GIRL 

"I  ought  to  put  that  young  woman  wise  to 
it  as  a  matter  of  duty.  But,  as  I  said,  she's 
not  for  you,  if  I'm  any  judge  of  my  sex,  and, 
anyhow,  it's  none  of  my  business." 

"Then  it  is  understood,  Mollie — not  a 
word  to  anybody  about  our  marriage." 

*'Not  a  word,  since  you  wish  it." 

They  passed  the  bushes  behind  which 
Hicks  lay  as  the  last  few  words  of  the  conver- 
sation were  exchanged,  and  he  could  not  help 
but  hear  them. 

"That  settles  it,"  he  groaned,  gazing  after 
them  with  tears  in  his  eyes.  'Not  a  word  to 
anybody  about  our  marriage.'  They're  goin' 
to  light  out  o'  this  place  on  the  Q.  T.  to  do  it. 
This  is  where  I  kiss  myself  good  bye.' 


» 


CHAPTER  VIII 

There  was  a  commotion  in  the  hotel.  The 
news  that  a  detective  had  arrived  with  a  war- 
rant for  the  arrest  of  the  assailant  of  James 
Kelly  during  the  riot  at  Glad  Hand  Mike's 
at  Washington,  had  spread  with  the  quick- 
ness of  an  electric  flash.  For  the  sleuth  had 
made  his  mission  known  to  the  manager — 
and  a  bell  boy  had  overheard  him.  Only 
three  guests  were  registered  as  from  the  Na- 
tional Capital — Cunningham,  Farnum  and 
Hicks — and  the  book  showed  that  they  had 
arrived  the  day  after  the  riot.  At  the  detec- 
tive's request  the  manager  sent  for  them,  and 
their  appearance  in  the  lobby  was  the  signal 
for  the  gathering  about  them  of  everybody 

in  the  hotel — including  Mollie,  who  had  come 

150 


'TEE  TIME,  TEE  PLACE  151 

'■  AND  TEE  GIRL 

over  from  the  sanitarium  on  business  and 
joined  the  crowd  to  see  what  was  the  matter. 

"Which  of  you  three  men  was  it  who  struck 
Kelly  down?"  demanded  the  detective  blunt- 
ly, but  fixing  his  eye  on  Johnny.  "All  three 
of  you  tally  with  descriptions  of  men  who 
were  there." 

"I'm  elected,"  announced  Johnny  crest- 
fallenly.  He  had  seen  Molhe's  eyes  upon 
him. 

"What,  you?"  she  exclaimed.  "Do  you 
mean  to  say  you  are  the  man  who  nearly 
killed  my  brother  ?    Do" 

"You  needn't  say  it,"  he  interrupted  with 
a  gesture  of  despairing  resignation.  "I  know 
what  you  think  of  me.  I've  rolled  my  hoop 
out  of  your  yard,  anyhow,  and  I  don't  care 
what  happens.    Officer,  take  me  away.' 


152  ySi;  TIME,  TEE  PLACE 

AND  TEE  GIRL 


"Hold  on,"  cried  Cunningham  resolutely. 
"It  isn't  so.  Mollie,  I  was  the  man  who 
whipped  your  brother.     I" 

"Not  that,"  protested  Hicks,  astonished 
at  his  friend's  action  and  determined  to 
shoulder  the  blame.  "I'm  it,  all  right,  officer. 
Don't  you  beheve  him." 

"Well,  which  of  you  was  it,  anyway?  Or 
was  it  both?"  demanded  the  detective. 

"It  was  I  who  did  it,"  insisted  Cunning- 
ham. "Let  me  explain,  Mollie.  I  was  on  my 
way  to  Tellalapec  on  a  most  important  mis- 
sion when  this  unfortunate  broil  occurred. 
The  blow  was  struck  in  self-defence,  but 
never  mind  that.  My  business  here  was  ex- 
tremely delicate,  involving  the  interests  and 
happiness  of  two  persons,  and  when  I  read 
that  the  police  were  headed  this  way  to  arrest 


•THE  TIME,  THE  PLACE  153 

**  AND  THE  GIBL 


your  brother's  assailant,  I  realized  that  this 
would  mean  the  complete  failure  of  my  pur- 
pose, and  as  for  special  reasons  I  dared  not 
leave  the  place  I  asked  Hicks  here  to  say 
he  was  the  man  they  were  after,  if  the  oc- 
casion should  arise.  I  was  selfish,  as  every 
man  placed  as  I  am  would  be,  perhaps,  but 
I  didn't  know  then  that  he  would  be  in  a 
similar  position  himself.  But  he  is,  and  un- 
der the  circumstances  I  cannot  allow  the  sac- 
rifice, whatever  the  consequences  to  myself 
may  be.  And  by  the  consequences  I  do  not 
mean  the  police  action.  This  is  a  small  mat- 
ter— at  the  worst  a  simple  affair  for  a  police 
magistrate  to  deal  with.  That  doesn't  de- 
tract from  Mr.  Hicks's  heroism,  however, 
and  I  want  you  to  know  that  they  don't  make 
such  men  as  he  every  day.     He's  my  friend, 


154  T'EE  TIME,  TEE  PLACE 

AND  THE  GIRL 

and  I'm  proud  of  it,  and  don't  care  who 
knows  it." 

Hicks  in  confusion  and  dismay  had  shrunk 
behind  Farnum.  If  the  floor  could  have 
opened  and  he  could  have  jumped  out  of 
sight  he  would  have  given  ten  years  off  his 
life. 

"Well,  I'm  glad  it  wasn't  Johnny,"  said 
Mollie  beaming,  "but  Mr.  Cunningham 
couldn't  have  been  so  much  in  the  wrong. 
My  brother  says  it  was  his  own  fault,  and 
he's  anxious  to  apologize  to  somebody  for 
the  fight.  He  intends  to  withdraw  the  com- 
plaint as  soon  as  he  gets  out,  which  will  be 
in  a  day  or  two.  You'd  better  see  him  to- 
morrow morning,  Mr.  Policeman." 

"Have  I  your  word,  sir,  that  you  won't 
seek  to  evade  the  warrant  ?"  asked  the  detec- 


'THE  TIME,  TEE  PLACE  155 

'■  AND  THE  GIRL 


tive,  seeing  it  was  not  a  case  for  active  inter- 
ference. 

"Of  course,"  said  Cunningham. 

"The  idea!"  exclaimed  Mollie. 

Farmer  Simpson  elbowed  to  the  front. 

"Look-a  here,  mister,"  he  said,  addressing 
the  officer.  "If  ye  want  bail  I'll  go  ye  fer  a 
million.  I  know  the  prisoner  at  the  bar  and 
I  own  the  hull  of  Saskatchewan  County, 
and" 

"Not  necessary,"  replied  the  policeman. 
"I  couldn't  take  bail  anyhow.  I'm  not  a  mag- 
istrate." 

"Thank  you,"  said  Cunningham  gratefully, 
shaking  the  farmer's  hand  with  heartiness. 
"You  don't  know  how  I  appreciate  that." 

He  glanced  quickly  towards  Margaret, 
whom  he  had  been  afraid  to  look  at  before. 


156  'THE  TIME,  TEE  PLACE 

AND  THE  GIRL 


There  was  a  soft  light  in  her  eyes,  but  these 
became  stern  instantly  as  her  gaze  met  his. 

Johnny  joined  Mollie  on  her  way  back  to 
the  sanitarium. 

"Miss  Mollie,"  he  said,  "I've  come  to  say 
adoo.    I  skin  out  of  here  to-morrow." 

"You're  going  to  leave  us  already  ?  What 
for?"  she  demanded. 

"Well,  I  guess  it's  about  time  I  caught  on 
to  myself.  I'm  all  in.  But  I  want  to  con- 
gratulate you  and  wish  you  luck  before  I  go. 
We've  been  good  chums." 

"We  have  that,  Johnny,"  she  said,  regret 
in  her  voice.  "But  what  do  you  want  to  con- 
gratulate me  about?" 

"Laurie  Farnum." 

"Laurie  Farnum?    What  about  him?" 
"Ain't  he  the  only  pebble  ?" 


'THE  TIME,  THE  PLACE  157 

AND  TEE  GIRL 

"Johnny,  I  don't  understand  a  darned 
thing  you're  talking  about." 

"Ain't  you  engaged  to  be  married  to  him  ?" 

"Whatever  put  such  an  idea  into  your 
head?" 

"He's  got  your  head  in  his  ticker." 

"It's  like  his  cheek,"  she  declared  indig- 
nantly. "He  promised  to  destroy  that  pic- 
ture ages  ago.  You  don't  know  how  mis- 
taken you  are." 

"Didn't  he  ask  you  to  hitch  up  with  him?" 

"Yes — he  did — once." 

"You  didn't  turn  him  down?" 

"No,  I  married  him." 

He  gazed  at  her  utterly  bewildered,  hope 
which  had  sprung  timidly  up  again  dropping 
back  to  the  slough  of  despond. 

"Let  me  explain,"   she   said  eagerly.     "I 


158  ^EE  TIME,  THE  PLACE 

AND  THE  GIRL 

was  Laurie  Farnum's  wife.  We  were  both 
young  and  foolish  and  I  had  never  seen  any- 
one. He  sort  of  fascinated  me  and  I  married 
him.  Neither  of  us  realized  what  we  were 
doing.  Later  I  found  out  what  he  was  and 
we  were  divorced  six  years  ago." 

"An'  you  don't  care  for  him  anymore? 
Tell  me — on  the  square,"  he  pleaded. 

"I  don't  dislike  Laurie — I  pity  him — with 
all  my  heart." 

Johnny's  own  heart  swelled  with  a  great, 
tender  joy. 

"So  that's  how  it  is !  Well,  he  won  all  my 
dough  an'  all  I  separated  from  them  other 
guys.  I  was  goin'  to  wait  'till  I  got  that 
roll  before  I  asked  you  to  get  measured  for 
the  harness  with  me.  On  the  grave,  I  ain't 
got  an  iron  louie  to  my  name,  but  if  you  think 


'TEE  TIME,  TEE  PLACE  159 

AND  TEE  GIRL 

you  could  care  about  that  kind  of  a  guy  with- 
out strainin'  yourself — why" — — 

He  wiped  his  mouth  suggestively  and  re- 
ceived a  repetition  of  the  kiss  which  before 
had  sealed  their  love. 

"I've  been  careful,"  she  told  him.  "The 
patients  here  have  been  awful  good  to  me 
and  I've  got  a  bunch  of  money  saved  up. 
We'll  plant  it  where  it'll  do  us  most  good, 
but  it  won't  be  on  the  green  table  cloth." 

"No,"  he  answered,  "I'm  through  with 
that  for  all  time  and  even  longer.  I  see  my- 
self in  hurrah  clothes,  handin'  out  plates  of 
'ham  and'  with  one  eye  and  gluin'  the  other 
on  the  barkeep  ladlin'  out  the  sarsaparilla, 
while  you  scoops  in  the  shekels." 

"Sure — that's  the  caper."  said  Mollie. 


CHAPTER  IX 

"Margaret,  you  have  not  treated  me  fair- 
ly," protested  Cunningham.  *'I  know  I  have 
been  wild.  That  foolish  quarrel,  which  I  have 
bitterly  regretted,  started  me  off,  and  when 
I  found  you  would  have  nothing  to  do  with 
me  I  made  several  kinds  of  an  idiot  of  my- 
self.    But  I  am  not  wholly  bad."' 

"Oh,  no,  you  have  some  good  qualities,  I 
won't  deny  it.  The  way  you  owned  up  just 
now  in  front  of  everybody  showed  that.  It 
was  clean  and  manly — almost  noble." 

"No   please  don't.    I  can't  stand  for  that." 

"It  was,  and  it  is  only  right  that  credit 
should  be  given  where  credit  is  due," 

"Well.  I  should  like  you  to  think  I  could 

160 


"TEE  TIME,  TEE  PLACE  161 

'*  AND  TEE  GIBL 

earn  credit  for  something  more  than  an  act 
of  mere  common  decency.  I  do  want  to  be 
something,  Margaret — to  do  things  worth 
while.  I  have  often  thought  that  a  rich  man's 
son  deserves  more  pity  than  anyone  else.  I 
was  never  in  my  Ufe  called  upon  to  assume 
any  responsibility  or  undertake  anything  that 
would  have  kept  me  to  harness.  If  my  father 
only  had  remained  in  business  I  might  have 
had  a  chance — it  would  have  been  forced 
upon  me." 

"That's  the  trouble.  I  never  had  anything 
positive  against  you,  in  spite  of  our  quarrel, 
which  was  as  much  my  fault  as  yours.  It  was 
because  you  were  not  my  ideal  of  a  man,  be- 
cause you  were  just  a  wealthy  man's  son  who 
had  never  done  anything.  I  could  have  liked 
you,  perhaps,  if  you  had  been  even  positively 


162  'THE  TIME,  THE  PLACE 

AND  TEE  GIRL 

bad — but  you  were  not — you  were  not  any- 
thing until — until" 

"Until  what?" 

"You  know  very  well  what,  Tom  Cunning- 
ham, and  I  wonder  that  I  have  so  far  forgot- 
ten myself  as  to  talk  to  you." 

"I  must  have  done  something  dreadful  for 
you  to  say  that,  but  for  the  life  of  me  I  can't 
remember  that  I  was  at  any  time  guilty  of 
anything  that  would  justify  your  contemptu- 
ous treatment  of  me." 

The  girl  drew  away  from  him  and  swept 
him  with  a  glance  of  withering  scorn. 

"I  suppose  you  consider  it  quite  natural. 
/  consider  it  not  only  scandalous,  but  odious 
beyond  expression,  and  I'm  glad  you  know 
now  exactly  what  I  think  of  your  conduct." 

"What   do   you   consider    scandalous    and 


J'fljff  TIME,  TEE  PLACE  163 

AND  THE  QIBL 


odious?     In  heaven's  name  tell  me  what  I 

did?" 

"You   thought,   perhaps,   I   never   should 

find  it  out,  but  you  see  how  mistaken  you 

were.     I  know  all  about  your  marriage  and 

all  about  how  you  deserted  your  wife." 

"My  marriage?  Margaret,  there  is  some 
mistake  somewhere.  I  have  never  married, 
and  never  have  thought  of  marrying  any  girl 
but  you." 

"Then  you  promised  to  marry  a  girl  aild 
deserted  her." 

"Never  dreamed  of  such  a  thing." 

His  earnestness  showed  that  he  spoke  in 
all  sincerity. 

"Then  I  don't  understand,"  she  said  help- 
lessly. 

"Nor  I.  Whoever  told  you  this  absurd 
yarn?" 


164  'THE  TIME,  TEE  PLACE 

AND  THE  GIRL 

"Bud  heard  about  it  first." 

"Bud!  Bud!  When  is  this  marriage  sup- 
posed to  have  taken  place?" 

"While  you  were  at  college." 

"Oh,  I  begin  to  understand.  You  say  Bud 
heard  about  it  first?  Naturally  he  told  you. 
But  who  confirmed  his  story?" 

"Your  friend,  Mr.  Farnum." 

"You  don't  mean  to  say  Laurie  told  you 
that  lie?" 

"Not  in  so  many  words,  but  he  gave  me  to 
understand  it  was  true." 

"That  absolves  me  from  the  suspicion  of 
not  playing  fair  with  him  then,  and  I  will 
show  you  how  I  have  been  wronged.  It  was 
Farnum  who  married  while  we  were  at  col- 
lege together,  and  the  girl  who  was  his  wife 
and  who  divorced  him  is  Mollie,  the  head 


Y'HE  TIME,  THE  PLACE  165 

^  AND  THE  GIBL 

nurse  here.  Ask  her  yourself  if  you  still 
doubt  me." 

"Oh,  Tom!" 

It  was  all  she  could  find  to  say  in  her 
thankfulness  and  emotion. 

"Do  you  wish  me  to  leave  you  now?"  he 
asked,  bending  towards  her.  "Am  I  still  a 
pariah  ?" 

"No,  I  have  been  cruelly  unjust.  How  can 
I  make  amends?" 

Their  rocking  chairs  were  in  a  darkened 
and  deserted  corner  of  the  piazza.  The 
amende  honorable  was  exacted  by  Cunning- 
ham there  and  then,  and  it  was  eminently  sat- 
isfactory. 

A  few  minutes  later  Farnum  encountered 
them.  Margaret  was  leaning  on  Cunning- 
ham's arm  and  they  were  going  in  search  of 


166  'TEE  TIME,  TEE  PLACE 

AND  TEE  GIRL 

her  father.  Farnum,  astonished,  raised  his 
hat  and  smiled,  but  she  met  his  inquiring  gaze 
with  a  chill,  haughty  stare;  Cunningham  took 
no  notice  of  him  at  all.  He  looked  after  them 
thoughtfully  until  they  had  entered  the  hotel. 

An  hour  later,  grip  in  hand,  and  dressed 
for  traveling  he  hunted  up  Johnny. 

"Oh,  Hicks,"  he  said,  "I'm  going  to  catch 

the  night  train  to  town,  and  I  wanted  to  tell 

you  that  I  didn't  play  a  fair  game  to  you.    I 

don't   need   the   money  as   much   as   I   did. 

Here's  your  roll  and  here's  your  I.  O.  U. 
I'm  trying  to  make  up  by  giving  you  a  square 
deal  now.    So  long." 

He  hurried  out  to  the  waiting  carriage,  and 
the  vehicle  bore  him  swiftly  down  the  hill. 
Long  after  it  had  vanished  from  view  Johnny 
stood  looking  stupidly  at  the  money  in  his 
hand. 


SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  ^  AULl  Y 


A  A      000  286103    7 


UNIVERSITY  LIBRARY 

University  of  California,  San  Diego 

DATE  DUE 

/.  3  /  ^  Q< 

Series  0380 

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